The spotlight was initially going to shine most brightly on McCain's military record on Monday, a day convention organizers planned to focus on the theme of national service.

CNN: Analysis: Four things McCain needs to accomplish this week

Accompanied by Dr Reid and Security Minister Jane Kennedy, the Royal couple also met some of the 1, 000 invited guests involved in voluntary, community and public service, which is the theme of the Golden Jubilee.

BBC: Queen backs 'building of trust'

The funeral service, which featured the Star Wars theme tune, was held at Wesley Memorial Methodist Church.

BBC: Hundreds attend Epworth boy Alexander Strong's funeral

That's been a constant theme of discussions everywhere, it's certainly a constant theme of discussions which has informed this fire service dispute but it affects every area of public service - education, health and so on.

BBC: Breakfast with Frost

An oft-repeated theme at the event was that Amazon is focusing on the service, not the gadgets.

CNN: Hands-on with the new Kindles

He returned to a theme he has struck all week while visiting troops in Djibouti, Afghanistan and Iraq: American service members have given Iraqis the opportunity to make their own future.

WSJ: Battle Flag Comes Down in Baghdad, Iraq

MSN's new "Everyday Web" theme stresses personalized information and Web-based utilities such as Microsoft's Hotmail e-mail service, not mass-market content.

CNN: Thinking Smaller