Click on the multimedia link below for pictures from Pavarotti's funeral

THE two wives of Luciano Pavarotti may have been united in grief but they were separated by the length of a pew at his funeral yesterday.

The maestro's first wife Adua Veroni, dressed in a grey suit, sat closest to the coffin with their three daughters in the cathedral of Modena, where Pavarotti had sung as a young man with his father, a local baker.

Nicoletta Mantovani, the former secretary for whom the great tenor left Veroni after 35 years, sat at the far end of the pew in a bright green blouse.

She and Veroni failed to greet each other at a service that brought together the different sides of Pavarotti: the family man, the errant husband, the international celebrity and the fervent citizen of Modena.

The mourners included Romano Prodi, the Italian prime minister, Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras, the surviving members of the Three Tenors, and players from Pavarotti's favourite football team, Juventus.

Others included Bono, the U2 singer, Kofi Annan, the former secretary-general of the United Nations, and Franco Zeffirelli, the opera and film director.

Pope Benedict XVI sent a message of sorrow at the loss of "a great artist who with his extraordinary talent honoured the divine gift of music".

Outside, 50,000 of Pavarotti's fellow townspeople turned out in the afternoon sunshine to watch the funeral on giant television screens in the piazza.

They broke into applause when a priest read a message from Mantovani and Alice, 4, the daughter she bore Pavarotti. "We thank the Lord for the gift of Luciano, for his voice, for his love of life, for the love he gave us and for teaching us to love and honour our friends," read Mantovani's statement. Alice's message said: "Papa, you have loved me so much. I know you will always protect me. I will always hold you in my heart."

A nun read out a separate message from Pavarotti's three daughters by his first marriage: "We thank you, Lord, for giving him a voice which touched the chords of the soul."

As well as the animosity between the two wives, there were rumblings from the Roman Catholic establishment about the decision to grant the 71-year-old singer, who died from pancreatic cancer, a cathedral service.

Two local priests criticised the decision to allow his body to lie in state, arguing that he was a divorcée. But in his homily, Archbishop Benito Cocchi said the tenor was "no stranger in this cathedral".

In death Pavarotti, whose weight had dropped from 20 stone to 11 in his last days, wore the same coat-and-tails in which he had delighted millions on stage. They hung loosely on his shrunken frame.

His dead hands clutched the white scarf with which he would mop his forehead during performances. His hair was dyed black with charred champagne corks as if for a performance.

A showman to the last, Pavarotti had left precise instructions for how he was to be put to rest. There were 10 pallbearers for his coffin, as if he was still carrying the weight of earlier days.

The fact that his wives ignored each other was brushed aside by his sister Gabriella. "It doesn't matter," she said. "This is what Luciano would have wanted. All of us serene, even happy."

Almost 100,000 people had queued to see the body lying in state until two hours before the funeral. Gazing out at the piazza filled with people, Mantovani exclaimed: "How many people have come for Luciano! What a display of affection."

The ceremony was broadcast live on Italian television. Andrea Bocelli, the blind tenor, and Raina Kabaivanska, a Bulgarian soprano, sang holy arias.

Nessun Dorma, which became Pavarotti's greatest hit after the 1990 World Cup, played on the speakers in the piazza.

As the coffin was carried out of the cathedral, the Frecce Tricolori air squadron staged a fly-past, streaking the sky with green, white and red, the colours of the Italian flag.

There was to be one final curtain call. As the cortege made its way to the cemetery, drivers stopped their cars in the road and got out to applaud.

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