They were told to wear bright colours in order to celebrate the lives of six innocent children killed after a house fire tore through their home.
But mourners could not contain their grief when the six little white coffins containing the bodies of the Duwayne, 13, Jade, 10, John, nine, Jack, eight, Jesse, six and five-year-old Jayden Philpott arrived on horse-drawn carriages at St Mary's Catholic Church in Derby town centre this morning.
Jade and four of her brothers died when the devastating fire engulfed their home in Allenton, Derby, in the earlier hours of May 11. Their older brother Duwayne died two days later in Birmingham Children's Hospital.
Hundreds of family members, friends and members of the public wishing to pay their respects gathered at the church and on a foot bridge opposite to watch as the funeral cortege arrived.
The hearse carrying Jade's coffin had led the procession with a horse sporting a pink plume of feathers.
Five more carriages with horses wearing blue feathers followed, carrying Jade's brothers.
The children's parents Mick, 55, and Mairead, 31, who have been charged with murdering all six in the May 11 blaze, were not allowed to attend the funeral.
