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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Alice Peacock & Jennifer Newton

Grieving Prince William and Kate arrive at Sandringham one week after Queen's death

The new Prince and Princess of Wales, William and Kate, are at Sandringham estate in Norfolk looking at the flowers and cards left in tribute to the late monarch.

Thousands of people have visited the estate, where the Queen traditionally spent Christmas, to pay their respects, with tributes having piled up by the Norwich Gates since news of the Queen’s death was announced last Thursday.

The Prince and Princess arrived at the main gates to Sandringham House in Norfolk shortly after midday on Thursday to view the floral tributes to the Queen and speak with well-wishers.

The pair could be seen shaking hands and collecting flowers from people to place on their behalf.

William and Kate, Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at Sandringham on Thursday afternoon (Getty Images)

News of the visit was reported on Thursday and a large crowd gathered behind metal barriers.

Norfolk Police advised that an "increasing number" of people were expected and that officers were managing a one-way system around the estate.

William and Kate's appearance comes as grieving members of the Royal Family travel across the country to view floral tributes and meet well-wishers, as they continue to mourn the Queen.

Kate shaking hands and collecting flowers from well-wishers to place on their behalf (Getty Images)

Elsewhere, Prince Edward and the Queen's close daughter-in-law Sophie Wessex are in Manchester, where they have lit a candle in memory of Her Majesty at the city’s cathedral.

They viewed the floral tributes and mingled with fans in St Ann’s Square and looked at the book of condolence at Manchester’s Central Library.

Here, they are meeting representatives of organisations of which the Queen was patron.

Members of the Royal Family are travelling across the country to view floral tributes and meet well-wishers (Getty Images)
The Prince and Princess of Wales visiting Sandringham to view tributes to Queen Elizabeth II (Getty Images)

Meanwhile, Princess Anne, accompanied by her husband Sir Tim Laurence is visiting the Glasgow City Chambers.

She was pictured talking to Holly McBride, four, from Glasgow, during a visit to the City Chambers also to meet representatives of organisations of which Queen Elizabeth II was Patron.

The royals have fanned out across the country to meet those paying tribute to the Queen just a day after she left Buckingham Palace for a final time yesterday.

The Earl and Countess of Wessex views messages of condolence at Manchester's Central Library (PA)

Her coffin was taken in a procession from the palace to Westminster Hall, where senior royals including King Charles, William and Prince Harry walked in solidarity behind it.

Then during a service at the hall led by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Queen's relatives stood in formation facing the coffin on its purple-covered catafalque.

The platform was flanked with a tall, yellow flickering candle at each corner of the wide scarlet platform.

Prince Edward and Sophie Countess of Wessex view floral tributes in St Ann's Square (Tim Rooke/REX/Shutterstock)

Today, thousands of mourners have continued to join the miles-long queue to pay their respects to the Queen as she lies in state at Westminster Hall.

The coffin, which sits on a catafalque and is draped with a Royal Standard, continues to be guarded at all hours by units from the Sovereign’s Bodyguard, the Household Division or Yeoman Warders of the Tower of London.

The largely black-clad crowd were solemn and pensive as they flowed into the ancient hall where chandeliers and spotlights illuminated the scene beneath the medieval timber roof.

The Earl and Countess of Wessex visit Manchester Cathedral to light a candle in memory of the Queen (PA)

As hundreds of ordinary people of all ages filed past the coffin of the long-reigning monarch, many wiped their eyes with tissues.

Some bowed, some curtsied and some simply took a moment to look at the extraordinary scene.

Meanwhile, final preparations for the Queen’s funeral have been taking place in London, as thousands of military personnel took part in a full rehearsal early on Thursday morning for the procession of her coffin from Westminster Hall to Wellington Arch.

The Princess Royal talks to four-year-old Holly McBride (PA)

The rehearsal took place before sunrise and saw the State Gun Carriage, towed by almost 100 naval personnel and bearing a black coffin, travel from Westminster Hall, on to Westminster Abbey, and then through central London.

You can leave your tributes to Queen Elizabeth II here.

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