BRUSSELS, Aug 7: Thousands thronged the streets here today as Belgium's royal family and foreign heads of state Including Japan's Emperor Akihito and Britain's Queen Elizabeth II paid their last respects at the funeral of King Bau douin. reports AFT

Queen Fabiola wore white as she walked with shaky step behind King Baudouln s gun carriage, accompanied by other royal family members and for elgn heads of state, as the cortege passed through central Brussels today.

Thousands thronged the streets as the carriage, escorted by 130 mounted policemen, proceeded slowly to the nearby Saint Mlehael's Cathedral, where the mass began at II a.m

At 9:40 a.m precisely eight pallbearers of the army mrdli al corps carried the mahogany coffin from the royal chapel to the gun carriage In front of the palace

The Spanlah-born queen wore white as she had indicated she wanted the ceremony to be a " mass of glory and hope.