
John McCain will be laid to rest on Saturday at an invitation-only funeral in Washington

Former presidents, congressional colleagues and family have gathered in Washington to mark the passing of US Senator John McCain with a procession through the capital before an invitation-only funeral service.

McCain, who died on Tuesday just days before his 82nd birthday, was carried from the US Capitol by Armed Forces Body Bearers, before he was transported by a motorcade to Washington National Cathedral.

Eight members of the Armed Forces were seen carrying McCain's coffin from the Rotunda to a waiting hearse about 8.30am, with one man at the back appearing to direct them.

At one point, the plastic covering protecting the casket from adverse weather blew off McCain and straight on to the head of a soldier. He did not flinch, and continued marching down the stairs until someone was able to take the plastic off him.

The casket then joined a police motorcade, with multiple large black vans at the back.

Crowds were seen lining the street outside and inside the Vietnam Veterans memorial ahead of McCain's arrival.

The motorcade took McCain and his family to the Memorial ahead of the funeral, where the Senator's wife, Cindy, laid a wreath to honor those lost in the Vietnam War.

A Military Honor Guard carries the casket of US Senator John McCain from the US Capitol. A plastic protective cover blew off the casket and on to one officer

Crowds were seen gathering at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, where a naval officer stood with a wreath for Mrs McCain to lay in her husband's honor

The crowds extended on to the street, and were gathered near the officer in the hope of catching a glimpse of Mrs McCain

US Navy SN Caleb Harrington (pictured), from Fresno, will assist the US Secretary of Defense James Mattis, General John Kelly, White House Chief of Staff and Cindy McCain lay a ceremonial wreath honoring all whose lives were lost during the Vietnam War

The officer can be seen continuing to march despite the plastic covering on his head

The covering is not removed until McCain's casket has been placed in the hearse, which then leads the procession to the war memorial

John's wife Cindy helped lay the wreath at the Vietnam Veterans memorial alongside John Kelly and Jim Mattis

The wreath was covered in a blue ribbon reading: In honor of all who served

As she, John Kelly and Jim Mattis laid the wreath with the help of US Navy SN Caleb Harrington, McCain's daughter Meghan appeared visibly distraught at the day's events.

The motorcade moved on from the memorial to the Washington National Cathedral, where high profile guests were gathering inside for the invitation only service.

While guests were taken inside and seated, McCain's wife Cindy and his children, Meghan, Bridget, John Sidney, James and Sidney waited out the front for the Senator's casket.

Military personnel removed the casket from the hearse as the family stood nearby, holding their right hands over their hearts.

A military honor guard team carries the casket of late Senator John McCain into the Washington National Cathedral

A military honor guard carries the casket as McCain's family looks on

McCain's son Jimmy walks from the podium, past his father's casket, after reading the poem The Requiem

A prayer was said over McCain's coffin before it was carried inside, and the family followed closely behind.

After the McCain's entered the church, the military officers carried in McCain's coffin, while the Senator's 15 pallbearers walked behind it.

The senator's daughter, Meghan, was the first to speak. The daytime television panelist struggled to hold back tears as she mourned her father in a moving eulogy.

'I am here before you today saying the words I have never wanted to say, feeling the loss i have never wanted to feel,' she said. 'My father is gone.'

'My father was a great man, a great warrior, a great American. I admire him for all of these things, but I love him because he was a great father.'

Meghan McCain struggled to hold back tears as she spoke of her father, his heroism and his parenting. She appeared to make a number of jibes at Trump and his lack of military service

A gospel choir stood on stage as mourners sang hymns in the cathedral

While she spoke of how her father taught her to be brave and resilient, she soon turned to politics, and delivered a series of not-so-subtle jibes towards President Trump - who avoided being drafted into military service as a young man.

'We gather here to mourn the passing of American greatness,' she said.

The real thing, not cheap rhetoric from men who will never come near the sacrifice he gave so willingly, nor the opportunistic appropriation of those who lived lives of comfort and privilege while he suffered and served.

'The America of John McCain is the America of the revolution.

'The America of John McCain has no need to be made great again, because America was always great.'

Joe Lieberan, former US Senator paid tribute to the dignified services that took place over the week to mourn the passing of McCain.

Joe Lieberman, former US Senator, mourned his friend, who once asked him to be his running mate for President despite the pair working for different political parties

'This week's celebration of the life and values and patriotism of this hero, I think, have taken our country above tribal and partisan battles,' he said.

'In a way, it's the last great gift that John gave America.'

Lieberman mourned the man who had never uttered a bigoted word, who would help mark Jewish holidays and practices with him, despite not being Jewish himself, and the politician who could be anywhere in the world, and would still be working to be a better Senator.

Around the world, Lieberman said, McCain had fans - because they all believed the Arizona Senator was genuinely working to help them.

Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, 95, spoke of McCain's military service, and his family's legacy of national service.

'Our country has had the good fortune that at times of national trial, a few great personalities have emerged to remind us of our essential unity and inspire us to fulfill our sustaining values,' he said.

'John McCain was one of those gifts of destiny.'

Kissinger said McCain got no special treatment from his high-ranking military family when he was deployed to Vietnam, nor did he ever want it.

'The world will be lonelier without John McCain,' he said.

'None of us will ever forget that even in his parting, John has a bestowed upon us a much needed unity.'

Former Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, said the world would be 'lonelier' without McCain, who he defined as a gift of destiny

Former President George W Bush remembered his friend in a moving tribute to both McCain's service to the country, and McCain's service as a friend to all.

'A man who seldom rested is laid to rest, and his absence is tangible, like the silence after a mighty roar,' he said.

'The thing about John's life was the amazing sweep of it. From a tiny prison cell to the floor of the US Senate. From troublemaking plebe to Presidential candidate.

'In one life was written the courage and greatness of our country.'

Bush said his friendship with McCain was 'one of life's great gifts'.

'He was courageous with a courage that frightened his captors and inspired his countrymen,' he said.

'He loved freedom, with the passion of a man who knew its absence.

'He respected the dignity in every life, a dignity that did not stop at borders and could not be swiped by dictators.

'One of his books ends with the words "I moved on",' Bush concluded.

'John has moved on, he would probably not want us to dwell on it.

'We will remember him as he was: unwavering undimmed, unequal.'

Former President George Bush said his friendship with McCain was 'one of life's greatest gifts'

Barack Obama said being asked to speak at McCain's funeral was a 'precious and singular honor', but joked he had worked out why he and Bush - his political opponents - had been asked.

'What a way to get a last laugh than to get George and I to say nice things about him to a national audience,' he said, lightening an otherwise emotional tribute.

'We come to celebrate an extraordinary man. A warrior, a statesman, a patriot, who embodied so much that is best in America,' he said.

'President Bush and I are among the fortunate few who competed against John at the highest level of politics.

'He made us better Presidents, as he made the Senate better, as he made the country better.'

Obama noted McCain was always a bit of a troublemaker, who would not allow himself to be pushed into a box of what his high office should bind him to do.

'He had a disdain for self pity. He had been to hell and back, and he never lost his optimism or his zest for life,' he said.

'He maintained his buoyant spirit until the end, too stubborn to sit still, devoted to his friends, and most of all to his family.

'For all our differences, for all the times we sparred, I never tried to hide and I think John came to understand, the longstanding admiration I had for him.'

Former President Barack Obama remembered McCain as a 'troublemaker', who could not be forced into a box. He joked McCain's last greatest prank was having himself and Bush, McCain's political opponents, eulogize him as a last laugh

When McCain pushed back against protesters who questioned Obama's patriotism, Obama said he was 'grateful, but not surprised'.

'That's just who John was,' he said.

Obama said for all the stories of John's quick temper, the Arizona man was quick to move on from an argument and quick to forgive.

'He knew more than most his own flaws, his blind spots - he knew how to laugh at himself,' he said.

'We didn't advertise it, but every so often over the course of my presidency, John would come over to the white house and we'd sit and we'd talk.

'Our disagreements didn't go away during those private conversations, but we enjoyed the time we shared away from the bright lights.

'We learned from each other, and we never doubted the other man's sincerity, or the other man's patriotism.

'We never doubted we were on the same team.'

As speeches gave way to hymns and the funeral drew to a close, Cindy McCain appeared visibly distraught. When Danny Boy played, the McCain matriarch was seen leaning on her son for support.

Earlier in the day, she was seen wiping her eyes outside the Capitol as she stood with her family while McCain's casket was brought from the Rotunda to the hearse.

Cindy McCain was seen leaning on her son for support as Danny Boy played in the cathedral towards the end of John's service

The family matriarch held another son's hand earlier in the day as she cried while McCain's casket was brought out of the Rotunda and loaded into a hearse

Business leaders and talk show hosts joined the many politicians invited to the traditional funeral.

Secretary of State Madeline Albright, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and late night host Jay Leno are among those who were invited.

Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner were also in attendance, despite her father being asked not to attend the service.

Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner were seen entering the Cathedral, despite President Trump being asked not to attend

Pictured from left: Former First Lady Laura Bush, former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former vice president Dick Cheney and his wife Lynne and former vice president Al Gore

Former President Barack Obama was seen with wife Michelle, Al Gore and George Bush

Talk show host Jay Leno and former US Senator Bob Dole were also in attendance at the invitation-only memorial

McCain's mother Roberta was also seen on Saturday, looking elegant in pearls and a lace fascinator

Secretary of State Madeline Albright was seen at the Cathedral for the long-standing Senator

Sam Johnson, a former prisoner of war, was in attendance at McCain's funeral

Sam Johnson, a republican lawmaker who shared a cell with McCain in Vietnam for 18 months when they were both Prisoners of War, was also seen being taken into the Cathedral.

On Friday, Johnson rose from his wheelchair to pay a moving tribute to his friend. Johnson rose, and, with a cane in one hand and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi holding on to his other arm, walked to McCain's coffin to touch it goodbye.

The public were invited to line the streets to bid the war hero, who worked as a politician in Arizona for more than 30 years, a final goodbye as his procession moved through Washington.

The 15 pallbearers at Saturday's cathedral service will include former Vice President Joe Biden, former Senator Phil Gramm and ex-Defense Secretary William Cohen, both Republicans, as well as Michael Bloomberg and liberal actor and activist Warren Beatty.

McCain's friend and former chief of staff, Mark Salter, will also be included.

Remarks will be made by two former presidents, George W Bush and Barack Obama, as well as former Senator Joe Lieberman and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

McCain's children will also deliver a tribute and read a poem.

On Sunday, the American war hero will be buried at the US Naval Academy in Maryland, next to his old friend, Admiral Chuck Larson.

On Friday, McCain was laid in state in the Captiol Rotunda - making him one of only 13 senators to do so.

He was laid on the Lincoln catafalque, which was built in 1865 for Lincoln’s remains to rest on and has been used for all those who have lie in state in the Capitol since.

A US Navy band is seen arriving at the cathedral on Saturday ahead of McCain's funeral

McCain's family were at the Capitol to see John's body be carried into a waiting hearse ahead of the procession

Pictured: The motorcade taking McCain to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the way to the cathedral

The former Presidential candidate is currently in the rotunda at Capitol Hill, and will be moved via procession to the cathedral

His family have been present at seven other services held in Arizona and Washington, and will bury McCain at the US Naval Academy on Sunday (pictured: Roberta McCain, 106, is seen at her son's casket as it is laid in state in the Rotunda at Capitol Hill on Friday)

Past presidents John Kennedy, Dwight Eisenhower, and Ronald Reagan have lie in state as have distinguished citizens such as Douglas MacArthur.

The last person to lie in state in the US Capitol rotunda was Antonin Scalia in February 2016.

Throughout US history, only 32 people have been 'lain in state' or 'lain in honor' under the soaring Capitol Rotunda, including 11 presidents and unknown soldiers from World War I to Vietnam.

McCain was involved in planning the events around his funeral. He made it clear to family and friends that he wanted Democratic former Vice President Joe Biden, Bush and Obama to speak, but that Trump was not welcome.

Last July, Sen. McCain was diagnosed with a glioblastoma - an aggressive form of brain cancer – but he was back in the Senate two weeks later. His last Senate vote was in December.

The Senator and war hero died just days before his 82nd birthday, little more than a year after he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer (pictured Friday August 31)