Royalty, world leaders join multitude of mourners at Pope Francis' funeral

Royalty, presidents, prime ministers and a legion of faithful will pay their last respects to Pope Francis on Saturday at a funeral Mass in St. Peter's Square to honour his papacy.

Among those attending from more than 150 countries will be US President Donald Trump, who clashed with Francis on numerous occasions over their starkly contrasting positions on immigration.

The Argentine pope died on Monday, aged 88, following a stroke, ushering in a meticulously planned period of transition for the 1.4-billion member Roman Catholic Church, marked by ancient ritual, pomp and mourning.

Over the past three days, around 250,000 people filed past his body, which had been laid out in a coffin before the altar of the cavernous, 16th-century St. Peter's Basilica.

His casket will be carried through the main doors on Saturday for the outdoor funeral, which starts at 10:00 AM (12:00 PM UAE time), with massed ranks of foreign dignitaries to one side of the stone colonnade, facing hundreds of red-hatted cardinals on opposite banks of seats.

Alongside Trump will be the presidents of Argentina, France, Gabon, Germany, Italy, the Philippines, Poland and Ukraine, together with the prime ministers of Britain and New Zealand, and many European royals.

The Vatican says some 250,000 mourners will fill the vast, cobbled esplanade and main access route to the basilica to follow the ceremony, which will be presided over by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, a 91-year-old Italian prelate.

Mourners were hurrying towards the Vatican on Saturday morning. Some had camped out overnight to try and secure spots at the front of the crowd for the funeral.

"We have been waiting all night," said Spanish pilgrim Maria Fierro. "Accompanying (Francis) in his last moments is very emotional."

James Mary, a Franciscan nun, also waited overnight. "I was up the whole night," she said. "We want to say goodbye because he (was a) living saint, very humble and simple."

Whereas Pope John Paul II's funeral in 2005 lasted three hours, the service on Saturday is due to take 90 minutes.