Royal farewell for Hillary 

Source: NZPA/Kent GavinQueen Elizabeth and Lady Hillary

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The world has looked up to the conqueror of Mount Everest for one final time with about a thousand people attending a special service in a historic chapel at Windsor Castle.

Prime Minister Helen Clark has thanked Queen Elizabeth II for hosting a beautiful and moving memorial service for mountain-climbing pioneer Sir Edmund Hillary in England on Wednesday.

Clark praised the New Zealand elements of the service, including a native ceremonial call, a Karanga, in Windsor Castle's 480-year-old St George's Chapel.

"New Zealanders would have found that very moving," Clark said.

"I thought it was a beautiful service... It had a tremendous air of history about it."

Introducing the service, The Right Reverend David Conner described Hillary - the first man to scale Mount Everest - as a citizen of the world.

"This story of one man's daring, pioneering and adventure, this story of so many journeys seems to be the story of some profound quest, some more intense and sacred search" he said.

"I wonder if this could be why the story of his life touches us so deeply, is so evocative and resonant and inspirational, and makes us in this often casual and dismissive world invest in him more than a touch of the heroic."

About 1,000 people attended the service, some 400 of them New Zealand citizens who won a ballot to watch proceedings on screens outside the chapel.

Another 75 ballot winners sat among the 600-strong congregation inside to honour Hillary, who died on January 11, aged 88.

A state funeral was held in Auckland on January 22, after which Hillary's ashes were scattered in the waters of Waitemata Harbour.

The Queen did not attend the funeral but sent his family a personal message of support, offering to host Wednesday's service, after which she had lunch with Clark and members of Hillary's family - including his widow, Lady June.

"The Queen is always very interested in what's happening in New Zealand," Clark said.

"I would certainly want to thank her for this service."

News of Sir Edmund's successful ascent of the world's tallest peak, achieved with Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, reached London on the day of the Queen's coronation in 1953.

The Queen, Princess Anne and Sophie, Countess of Wessex, attended Wednesday's service, while the Duke of Edinburgh was absent due to a heavy cold.

Also attending the service of thanksgiving were nature broadcaster Sir David Attenborough, Lord of the Rings actor Sir Ian McKellen, former All Blacks captain Sean Fitzpatrick and cricketer Chris Cairns.

Hillary was appointed a Knight of the Order of the Garter - the oldest British order of chivalry - in 1995.

On Wednesday, the Military Knights of Windsor, dressed in their finery, paraded Hillary's Garter Banner through the Chapel before it was presented at the altar, to be handed over privately to his family later.

Hillary's son, Peter, gave an address, in which he fondly remembered his father's pro-active nature and sense of humour.

"'Peter, you can't just sit around and wait for things to happen, you've just got to get on with the job,' how I remember those words," he recalled.