Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee: Norfolk man recalls 'making history' at George VI's funeral

Watch a report by Raveena Ghattaura.

A Norfolk man who attended King George's funeral as a teenager has described the Queen as "one of us" as she marks the 70th year of her accession to the throne at her Sandringham estate.

Maurice Woods was just 14 years old when he attended the funeral of King George VI at Windsor in 1952.

King George VI died peacefully at the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk on 6 February, and Mr Woods, now 84, was invited to the funeral with his father, who was a mining engineer and later worked for the National Coal Board.

"Every time there was an official function he was invited and I used to go along to accompany him," Mr Woods told ITV News Anglia.

"At the time it didn't seem so absolutely wonderful but, looking back, it's amazing the fact that I was actually there making history," he said.

Queen Elizabeth II marks her 70th anniversary on the throne on Sunday, when she will become the first British sovereign in history to reach such a milestone.

After his death on 6 February, King George's coffin was moved from the church at Sandringham to Westminster Hall in London on 11 February to lie in state while more than 300,000 people filed past.

His funeral was held at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle on 15 February.

"It was full of people, not just English people, all sorts of nationalities. And so you had lots of different languages talking all the time," said Mr Woods.

"The members of the guards were stationed all around the coffin and leaning on their guns looking away. It was a strange feeling that you were watching a cortege going past with a member of the royal family and you didn't really appreciate what was happening.

"I was actually part of history. That is actually amazing because there probably aren't too many people around who actually went unless they were royalty or member of the aristocracy."

The King's death brought about Princess Elizabeth's accession to the throne at the age of 25.

Mr Woods said he was proud to have been part of history, and expressed his admiration for the Queen.

"I think she's a wonderful lady... a very strong-willed person... and she has had a lot of sadness over the years," he said."The biggest thing is she's got many places to live but she chose to live in Sandringham, which is half of Norfolk and so she was a Norfolk person.

"And they seemed happier wandering around the estate with the children.

"We visited the estate as just as members of public many times and you had that feeling that she was one of us."

This jubilee will be the first the monarch has commemorated without the her husband the Duke of Edinburgh, who died in April last year.