Must-see Awe-inspiring shots from the fantastic fireworks show which closed London's 2012 Olympics

After Britain's most successful Olympic Games for more than a century, it was only fitting that the closing ceremony should provide a spectacular send-off for the athletes who lit up London 2012.

And last night's extravaganza didn't disappoint, for it included one of the most spectacular fireworks displays that this nation has ever seen.

Some 80,000 lucky ticket-holders with seats inside the Olympic Stadium witnessed thousands of rockets explode on a night of celebration.

But hundreds of thousands more people in London also got to experience some of the festivities as the fireworks lit up the night sky to be seen for miles around.

Glorious send-off: Fireworks lit up the Olympic Park in Stratford, east London, as London 2012 drew to a close

Finale: The closing ceremony in the Olympic Stadium provided one of the most spectacular fireworks displays Britain has ever seen

FUNKE AKINDELE HOLDS THE OLYMPIC TORCH(PHOTOS)

UNBELIEVEABLE!!!24 HOURS RAINFALL TURNS TO HUGE FLOOD IN WALES

Holidaymakers in Wales airlifted from caravan park as a torrent of mud and water caused by June monsoon rages through the site and local shops in the early hours (and even the rescue boat had to be saved by the RAF)

• Double the average monthly rain pours down in just 24 hours in some parts of West Wales
  
• Four sites near River Lery completely evacuated as rescuers save 150 people
• West Wales was wettest part of UK yesterday and received a month's worth of rain in a single day

Does Kate the Duchess only own ONE pair of shoes?

She wore them to the Epsom Derby last June. To Prince Philip’s 90th birthday at Windsor. To attend Zara Phillips’s wedding, and on a visit to the Royal Marsden Hospital, London.
On tour in Canada and the U.S., she was seen in them six times. On Sunday, she chose them for the Royal Barge. And on Tuesday she put them on to attend the service of thanksgiving at St Paul’s cathedral.
Just what is it about Kate and her £185 pair of LK Bennett nude patent courts? Perhaps she bought a dozen pairs of the Sledge Court Shoe, first produced in 2009, as she loved them so much? Perhaps they are such good value and never scuff.

June 4, 2011: Derby Day at Epsom racecourse, left. June 12, 2011: Philip’s 90th birthday in Windsor

Prince William: I'm "Very Sad" Princess Diana Never Got to Meet Kate Middleton

On what should have been the happiest day of his life, Prince William was plagued by memories of the saddest: the day his mother, Princess Diana, was killed in a car crash in August 1997.

The Duke of Cambridge, 29, admits it was "very difficult" getting married without his mother looking on.