FROM one queen to another, Buckingham Palace has paid tribute to legendary soul singer Aretha Franklin on the day of her funeral.

While presidents and preachers joined a parade of music stars at Franklin’s funeral in America, the Welsh Guards played R-E-S-P-E-C-T outside Queen Elizabeth’s London residence as part of the popular Changing of the Guard ceremony.

In Franklin’s hometown of Detroit, the Queen of Soul was remembered as as a powerful force for musical and political change and a steadfast friend and family member.

In a send-off both grand and personal, a celebrity lineup of mourners filled the same church that hosted Rosa Parks’ funeral and offered prayers, songs and dozens of tributes. Guests included former President Bill Clinton, former first lady Hillary Clinton, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Stevie Wonder and Smokey Robinson.

Robinson, the Motown great, remembered first hearing Franklin play piano when he was just 8 and remained close to her for the rest of her life. They talked for hours at a time.

“You’re so special,” he said, before crooning a few lines from his song “Really Gonna Miss You,” with the line “really gonna be different without you.”

Bill Clinton described himself as an Aretha Franklin “groupie,” saying he had loved her since college. He traced her life’s journey, praising her as someone who “lived with courage, not without fear, but overcoming her fears.”

He remembered attending her last public performance, at Elton John’s AIDS Foundation benefit in November in New York. She looked “desperately ill” but managed to greet him by standing and saying, “How you doing, baby?“

Her career, Clinton noted, spanned from vinyl records to cellphones. He held the microphone near his iPhone and played a snippet of Franklin’s classic “Think,“ the audience clapping along.

“It’s the key to freedom!” Clinton said.