LONDON - Queen Elizabeth addressed her subjects last night to express her hope that her mother's funeral service in Westminster Abbey would be an occasion not just for sadness but also for thanksgiving.

In a televised broadcast, she said she had been "deeply moved by the outpouring of affection" for Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother since her death.

She had been overwhelmed, she said, by the acts of honour and respect shown to the memory of her mother, who died 10 days ago aged 101.

But she emphasized the Queen Mother's "infectious zest for living" and said she hoped that at today's funeral, "sadness will blend with a wider sense of thanksgiving."

Her message of thanks was broadcast as the Queen Mother's grandsons -- the Prince of Wales, Prince Andrew, Prince Edward and Viscount Linley -- stood vigil at the four corners of her coffin during her lying-in-state at Westminster Hall.

As they stood motionless, heads bowed, other members of the Royal Family, including Prince William, Prince Harry, Princess Anne and the Countess of Wessex, stood silently in the hall. They later spent an hour speaking with mourners.

Camilla Parker Bowles, Prince Charles's companion, also entered the hall to pay her respects as the grandsons conducted their vigil. Mrs. Parker Bowles will also attend the funeral, although she will sit with the general congregation and not with Prince Charles. She was, said Buckingham Palace, a long-standing friend of the Queen Mother.

The Royals have been out in force since the Queen Mother's death, keen to show their appreciation for the public sympathy. A river of mourners, many queuing for up to seven hours, has filed past the coffin during the past few days.

Jean Chrétien, the Canadian Prime Minister, and his wife, Aline, will attend along with Jeremy Kinsman, Canada's High Commissioner to London, and his wife, Hana. They will join a host of European royalty and Commonwealth prime ministers among the 2,000-strong congregation of mourners at Westminster Abbey.

In Ottawa, Adrienne Clarkson, the Governor-General, will deliver a eulogy at a service to be held at Christ Church Cathedral, the largest Anglican church in the city. Flags will fly at half-staff until sundown today, which has been declared a national day of mourning by the Prime Minister.

The Queen Mother was Colonel-in-Chief of the Canadian Forces Medical Service and two Canadian regiments -- the Black Watch, based in Montreal, and the Toronto Scottish. Four representatives of each are in London for the funeral.

"Canadians have talked about her as being like our grandmother and she was, but she was the head of our family for 65 years, so it's pretty much a staggering loss," said Lieutenant-Colonel Julian Chapman of the Toronto Scottish Regiment. "It's the notion of the Queen, the values she embodies."

After the funeral ceremony, the Queen Mother will be buried in St. George's Chapel in Windsor Castle beside her "Beloved Bertie" -- her husband, King George VI, whom she outlived by half a century.

The ashes of Princess Margaret, who died seven weeks before her mother, will be interred with her parents at the same time.

Electronic messages of condolence can be registered at www.commemoration.gc.ca/QueenMother.