Paula Orr stared at the yellowing, dead face of Pope Francis. Then she burst into tears: it was all too much.

“He looked so happy,” said Ms Orr, 67, a retired civil servant from Bedford who had been among the first members of the public queuing to say goodbye to a favourite pope on Wednesday.

“It was lovely. It was very moving, very emotional. You could see the serenity in his face. He is at peace.”

Ms Orr flew into Rome on Monday with her two sisters, learning of Pope Francis’s death as the plane touched down.

Devout Catholics, they had come to say prayers for a brother who died in October. Now they found themselves praying for a dead pope as well.