ON Friday it will be a year since the world paid its respects to Elizabeth II when she died aged 96 after a 70-year reign.

Days later, her state funeral was filled with pomp and ceremony, but also with reminders that she was a pet-lover, music fan and Commander-in-Chief of the Army, Navy and Air Force.

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Among the most poignant images of the day was the Queen’s beloved fell pony Emma, which stood with former head groom Terry Pendry on the Long Walk at Windsor, waiting to say farewell to their mistress as the procession passed by.

Terry, 72, bowed his head as he held Emma, her saddle draped in one of the Queen’s favourite headscarves.

The pony stamped her foot as the coffin approached.

Emma was the Queen’s favourite mount for the last 15 years of her life and up until his retirement in December, Terry rode her every day.

Now he visits 24-year-old Emma at the Royal Mews in Windsor where she lives.

Terry, who often rode out with the Queen through the estate, said of Emma: “She’s semi-retired but doesn’t want to be.

“She’s an absolutely amazing pony with a wonderful disposition.”

The Queen last rode Emma just two months before she died, and Terry said: “Her mind was crystal clear. It was an honour to have served her and to have been able to bring Emma to say goodbye.

“There are no words to express how much I shall miss her.

“The Queen absolutely adored Emma. She rode her on July 18, then two days later left for Scotland. And we all know how she came home.

Waggy tails

“I’d willingly give all my medals back to enjoy just one more day with Her Majesty. We miss her so badly.”

The Queen’s dogs captured the nation’s hearts too when they were photographed saying a final farewell.

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She was survived by two corgis, a dorgi — or dachshund-corgi mix — called Candy and a cocker spaniel, Lissy, which she named after herself.

Beloved corgis Muick and Sandy were at her bedside when she died at Balmoral on September 8 and now they, together with Candy, are being cared for by Prince Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah at their 30-room mansion Royal Lodge, in Windsor Great Park, alongside their five Norfolk terriers.

After the Queen died, Sarah went to a dog trainer because she thought they were grieving.

She said: “Their little tails went down, and I wanted to make them have waggy tails.

“I love everything about them and I’m the one who spoils them the most. It’s a big honour to have them with us.

“Because they are national treasures I am terrified when they go out running. They chase everything, straight into the trees, and I’m going, ‘No, no, the nation loves you, stop, stop chasing squirrels’.”

The Queen’s fourth dog, Lissy, lives with champion trainer Ian Openshaw at his Shropshire farm.

He said: “Lissy used to be a bit of a monkey when she was younger, but she has really come into her own now.”

At the funeral, all eyes were on the eight pallbearers who carried the Queen’s 500lb, lead-lined coffin into Westminster Abbey and later up the steep steps of St George’s Chapel.

The perfectly in-sync team was led by Company Sergeant Major Dean Jones, who has served in two tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Guardsman David Sanderson was just 19 when he became one of the soldiers from the Queen’s Company 1st Battalion, Grenadier Guards, to bear the oak casket.

The Queen had strong links to the regiment, which is the British Army’s most senior infantry division and is famous for its distinctive red tunics and tall black bearskin hats.

Even David’s own mother Carolyn had no idea he was holding the front of the coffin until she saw rehearsal photographs.

Carolyn, from Morpeth, Northumberland, said she was “beyond proud”, adding: “He will never forget this. He looked after her from the very start to her last journey.

“I had just stopped crying about the Queen and I started crying about David. Seeing him on TV going to Westminster Abbey was just amazing. I just lost it — that’s our David.”

And now, even a year on, the young guardsman’s parents are proud of their son’s contribution.

His dad Peter told The Sun on Sunday this week: “We are still absolutely elated with how it went.”

David was joined by Lance Sergeant Alex Turner, Lance Corporal Tony Flynn, Lance Sergeant Elias Orlowski, Guardsman Fletcher Cox, Guardsman James Patterson, Lance Sergeant Ryan Griffiths and Guardsman Luke Simpson.

They were each awarded the silver Royal Victoria Medal in recognition of their service to the Queen.

Alex’s mother, Debbie, still proudly shares snaps online of her son marching at Windsor Castle in his uniform and bearskin.

Tony, who married his partner Hayley at a Scout camp in June, is still being celebrated locally for being “hugely inspirational” to Scouts.

And Elias, a fellow dog lover, is a keen member of the Grenadier Guards ski team.

The youngest pallbearer, Jersey lad Fletcher, had just turned 19 and had always been destined for great things, says Chris Rayner, former detachment commander for Jersey’s Army cadet force.

He added that it had always been Fletcher’s “sole ambition” to serve the Queen.

Chris said he knew he would go on to “great things”, adding: “It’s not a surprise.

“It was a very proud moment to see somebody from Jersey who had been a cadet and gone through the system involved in such a moment in history.”

At the rear of the pallbearer team was James, a keen bodybuilder, Ryan, a surfer, and Luke, whose “proud” dad Mark admitted he had had a tear in his eye as he watched the service.

Music was another of the Queen’s passions and she enjoyed everything from military bands to ABBA.

And in Westminster Abbey the cameras focused on 11-year-old choirboy Barnaby Scholes as he sang his heart out for her.

After his rendition of Psalm 42: 1-7, he quickly went viral on social media, branded “The Ginger Kid” and a “superstar” who was “living his best life”.

Now 12, he is still a pupil at exclusive Westminster Abbey Choir School and has gone on to win widespread acclaim for acting too.

Music writer Jessica Duchen said he had amazing confidence for such a young child, adding: “He’s also a really nice boy — perceptive and clearly very bright.

“It was wonderful to see him at such a big occasion. Many of the boys from the Westminster Abbey Choir School do go on to become professional musicians and singers.”

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Trumpeter Tilly Bishop is one of the few people who met the Queen in person, performing for her at the Royal Windsor Horse Show six months before her death, and then taking part in the funeral.

She said of the horse show: “She told the people next to her to shut up so she could watch.”

Tilly, 21, a trumpeter in the Life Guards regiment, said she had a “little bit of an emotional breakdown” when she went to lay flowers after the Queen died but on the funeral day she gave an utterly professional performance.

Wearing a big golden cloak and riding Platinum, the only grey horse in the procession, she rode behind the Royal Family and sounded six notes on her trumpet to signal commands to the horse.

But she refused to take any credit for the part she played and said simply: “Platinum was amazing.”