The Queen was visibly touched by an emotional outpouring of appreciation at her last public appearance of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations.

Despite the Duke of Edinburgh's absence, the Queen was delighted by the rapturous response of thousands of well-wishers who queued for hours to see her on the balcony at Buckingham Palace.

Thunderous applause from crowds of flag-waving supporters, who braved wet and dreary conditions, greeted her as a flypast and gun salute marked the climax of four days of festivities.

The Queen was joined by the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry on the balcony.

She smiled throughout the appearance, visibly pleased, and waved as the thousands of people roared with applause, some sporadically breaking into impromptu renditions of the national anthem.

As the royal party waved from the balcony, the sky was decorated with red, white and blue smoke trails from the Red Arrows, which took part in a flypast over the palace.

The Queen's Guard made a "feu de joie" - a celebratory cascade of rifle fire - on the palace forecourt, interspersed with the national anthem played by the Band of the Irish Guards.

It is only the second time a feu de joie has been fired in Her Majesty's reign. The first was following the Queen's Birthday Parade in 2006 in celebration of her 80th birthday.

The Queen's Guard then gave three cheers, with the words "hip hip hooray" echoing down the Mall.

As the Queen waved goodbye, the crowds cheered but expressed their disappointment that the celebrations were drawing to a close, shouting: "We love the Queen", while deafening applause rang out until the royals went back inside.

Earlier the Queen returned to Buckingham Palace after a carriage procession through the capital.

With the Duke of Edinburgh in hospital, she was escorted by the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall in the 1902 State Landau as it led the procession.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry travelled behind in another state landau and during the procession a 60-gun salute by the King's Troop could be heard across London.

As the family arrived at the palace's Grand Entrance, coachman Philippa Jackson, who would have driven a third coach had the Duke of Edinburgh been able to attend, presented the Queen with a posy of flowers from the palace gardens.

Crowds who had waited on the Mall were led up to the gates of the palace just before the balcony appearance, flooding the area with a sea of flag-waving supporters.

The forecast light rain made its appearance just before the Queen, but did not seem to dampen anyone's spirits, as choruses of Singing In The Rain and shouts of "We want the Queen" rang out.