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Photos | Video: Key Moments Of Nelson "Madiba" Mandela's State Funeral

Tradition: Mandela's casket, covered in the nation's flag, was placed on a cattle skin as the service combined elements of traditional and state funerals
Nelson Mandela has today been buried in the remote village where the anti-apartheid icon grew up after a four-hour state funeral attended by thousands of mourners. South Africa's first black president died in his Johannesburg home on December 5 at the age of 95 after a long battle with illness, and he was laid to rest in his grave in Qunu in Eastern Cape province after ten days of mourning in his beloved country. More pictures after the break. Watch the video of the key moments at the very end!
 Stage: The speakers delivered their addresses in front of 95 candles, representing every year of Mandela's life
Arm in arm: Mandela's second wife Winnie Madikizela Mandela (far right) and the statesman's widow Graca Machel (centre) walk together as he is about to be buriedGathered to remember Madiba: South Africa's president Jacob Zuma (2nd left), Mandela's ex-wife Winnie Mandela (left), and the widow of Mandela, Graca Machel (3rd left), sit by his coffin
Eulogy: South African President Jacob Zuma told the assembled mourners that 'Madiba' was 'a fountain of wisdom, a pillar of strength and a beacon of hope' for those fighting oppression in his country and around the worldSombre: South Africa's current president Jacob Zuma sitting between Winnie Mandela and Graca Machel
United in grief: Mandela's widow Graca Machel, above, and his former wife Winnie, below, arrived holding hands and sat together for the serviceUnited in grief: Mandela's widow Graca Machel, above, and his former wife Winnie, below, arrived holding hands and sat together for the service
Goodbye to an icon: Nelson Mandela's coffin is slowly lowered into the ground in the hills close to where he grew up at the small, private burial today in Qunu as military salute and mourners watch the poignant momentTraditional: Mandla Mandela right, grandson of former South African president Nelson Mandela, during his grandfather's funeralRoyal meeting: The Prince of Wales meets the King of the Xhosa tribe Zwelonke Sigcau, head of Mandela's tribe, at the burial in Quno today.Poignant: Nelson Mandela's coffin was carried to his grave and then the flag of the country he loved so ardently was removed and handed to his widow Graca Machel
 Coming home: A parade of servicemen lead the casket to the funeral
Troops lined the route up to the hillside where he was buried as Mandela was carried on a gun carriage to a plot on his family’s estate. As his body was placed on the grave the South African flag on the coffin was removed and handed to Mandela's widow Graca Machel, who was comforted by his ex-wife Winnie Mandela.
Air force tribute: A squadron of South African jets flew across the skies above the Eastern Cape hills where Mandela spent his formative yearsMourners: US talk show host Oprah Winfrey, centre, her husband Stedman Graham, left, and English businessman Richard Branson, right, watching the funeral service Procession: After the funeral South Africa's military took over and followed Mandela's coffin up the hill to his family plot where he was buried Dignitaries: Anti-apartheid activist and friend Ahmed Kathrada, right, with former South Africa president Thabo Mbeki
Ceremonial: The fly-past was accompanied by a 21-gun salute and a solitary trumpeter played the Last Post while his body was lowered into the groundFinal journey: The coffin of former South African President Nelson Mandela is carried by military personnel at the end of his funeral service in his ancestral village of Qunu in the Eastern Cape
A fly-past then followed accompanied by a 21-gun salute and a solitary trumpeter played the Last Post while his body was lowered into the ground. As he was buried armed forces Chaplain General Monwabisi Jamangile said: 'Yours was truly a long walk to freedom, and now you have achieved the ultimate freedom, in the bosom of your maker.'
Tribute: Zulu men carry traditional weapons and shields in honour of their country's leader, who helped free South Africa after apartheid Celebration of life: Men in tribal Zulu warrior dress perform ritual dances on the area overlooking the burial ceremony
Tradition: Mandela's grandson Mandla Mandela, right, watches as local chiefs escort the lion skin draped casket of former South African President as it arrives at the Mandela residence in QunuHeroic: Warriors pay a personal tribute to the Nobel Peace Prize winner and revered icon of the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa who died on December 5 at the age of 95
His funeral was also marked by his Xhosa tribe whose elders traditionally slaughter an ox to accompany the deceased's spirit after burial, while guests are asked to drink its blood from a communal bowl.
But it is understood dignitaries such as Prince Charles were likely to be offered the animal's meat to eat instead after it was cooked on an open fire.
Religious movement: Archbishop Desmond Tutu, centre, is surrounded by clergymen at his Christian burial after his state funeral was dominated by political eulogiesRepresenting the UK: Prince Charles stands alongside Judith Macgregor, British High Commissioner in South Africa as they watch Mandela finally laid to rest Star: British actor Idris Elba, who played Mandela in Long Walk To Freedom, also attended the state funeral - the first in South Africa's democratic history
Civil rights campaigner: American Jesse Jackson, a close friend of Mandela's meets Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, right, and Lindiwe Sisulu, left, at the burial Tradition: Mandela's grandson Mandla Mandela, right, watches as local chiefs escort the lion skin draped casket of former South African President as it arrives at the Mandela residence in Qunu
Mandela's family also talked to him until he was lowered into the earth and will have said 'Madiba, we are now burying you,' a tradition followed so the souls of the dead know where they are going in the afterlife.
 
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