Friends, family and colleagues of Stephen Hawking have gathered to pay their respects at his private funeral in Cambridge.

Tributes poured in from around the world from Queen Elizabeth the second to NASA. Hawking died at home in the British city of Cambridge on March 14th at the age of 76. The renowned theoretical physicist is known for his research into black holes and relativity. Hawking has authored several best-sellers on science including "A Brief History of Time". He stunned doctors by living for over 50 years after he was diagnosed with a motor neurone disease at 21.