Respect: Franklin’s coffin arrives for two-day public viewing ahead of her funeral

The regal presence Aretha Franklin exuded in life is being captured at her viewing, with the late Queen of Soul in a goldplated coffin dressed in red, including high-heels, proving she was a “diva to the end”.

Hundreds of mourners poured into Detroit’s Charles H Wright Museum of African American History to pay their final respects to Franklin, who died on 16 August of pancreatic cancer, aged 76.

The two-day viewing is part of a week of commemorations for the acclaimed singer, who will be laid to rest on Friday.

The museum is a cultural landmark in the city where Franklin spent most of her life.