The funeral of Nelson Mandela is underway in his ancestral home of Qunu in South Africa.

The traditional tribal ceremony marks the end of a week of memorial events.

The 95-year-old former president - who was imprisoned for 27 years for opposing apartheid - died earlier this month.

4 and a half thousand people including royalty, world leaders and international celebrities are attending the ceremony in a specially constructed marquee.

Oprah Winfrey, Prince Charles and actor Forrest Whittaker are among the mourners, as well as Mr Mandela's family, his widow Graca Machel and his ex-wife Winnie Madikizela Mandela.

A portrait of South Africa's first black president is set behind 95 candles representing each year of his life.

His casket, draped in the national flag, is placed on a carpet of cow skins below a lectern where speakers - including his granddaughter Nandi Mandela - are delivering eulogies.

Desmond Tutu is also in attendance even though he was apparently left off the guest list.

The 82-year-old retired archbishop earlier said he received "no indication" he'd been invited.

But the government insisted he was.

Meanwhile - hundreds of people have attended a candlelight vigil, with live music, in Cape Town.