Relatives and royalty pay tribute to July 7 victims

In the congregation were 700 friends and relatives of 51 of the victims; one family chose not to attend. There were also 200 people who were severely injured in the blasts ­ many arrived on crutches or in wheelchairs ­ and 200 others who were walking wounded or survivors who helped on site.

Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, said in his address: "It does not matter to the killers if their victims are Christian or Muslim, Hindu or humanist; what matters is that they show that they can kill where they please."

Dr Williams' sermon was followed by the lighting of four candles, each inscribed with the name of one of the four locations of the bombings and each carried to the dome altar by representatives of the emergency services and transport staff.

A short silence was followed by a statement of unity from leaders of the principal faiths and the lighting of a candle of hope. The service, relayed to a screen in Trafalgar Square, was attended by the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prime Minister and other members of the Cabinet, and leaders of the main political parties. Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London, also gave a reading. After the service, the Queen met some of the bereaved families on the steps of St Paul's.

Among them were the parents of David Foulkes, 22, from Manchester, one of the youngest victims, who was killed in the Edgware Road blast. His father, Graham Foulkes, 53, said that the family had travelled to St Paul's by Tube, their first trip on the Underground since their son's death. Their son was making his first Tube journey on the day he died.