Poignant photographs of Queen Elizabeth II dominated the front pages of Britain's grieving newspapers yesterday, charting her journey from coronation to matriarch of the nation.

A picture of the 27-year-old Elizabeth taken at her 1953 coronation, full of regal splendour clasping the Sovereign's Orb and Sceptre in the vaulted walls of Westminster Abbey, covered the front pages of The Times, Guardian, Daily Star and Independent.

The Sun, Daily Telegraph, Daily Express and Daily Mirror instead chose images of the white-haired monarch as she neared the end of her record-breaking 70-year-reign.

The Telegraph carried a quote made by the queen for the victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks. "Grief is the price we pay for love," it said.