The Princess of Wales singled out a young girl for a special moment as she visited a sea of flowers left for the Queen at the main gates to Sandringham House, with Prince William
Thousands of well-wishers gathered behind metal barriers to see the couple, who stayed for almost an hour speaking to people. In a sweet gesture, Kate invited eight-year-old Elizabeth Sulkovska to walk with her to place a corgi teddy and a bouquet of flowers among the tributes.
Speaking after, the young royalist said she was "very happy” to have placed the tributes with Kate. Her headteacher Gregory Hill, of Howard Junior School in King’s Lynn, accompanied the group of children aged seven to nine.
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“Elizabeth was overwhelmed, she cried with joy at being chosen,” said Mr Hill. “It’s just a wonderful, amazing opportunity.”
He said that the Queen’s death has "touched a young generation as well”, adding: "The older generation obviously knew the Queen for longer but young children that haven’t experienced the Queen for long on the throne still are greatly moved by her passing, and really want to do their best to celebrate her life and legacy and never forget her.”
He said that William and Kate noticed a Paddington Bear tribute they had made.
"It’s got our same logo on the badge as our school uniform and they both commented about that,” he added.
The new Prince and Princess of Wales looked at the flowers and cards left in tribute to the late monarch outside her Sandringham estate in Norfolk.
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 her death was announced last Thursday.
It comes as the royals 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.
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 also viewed the floral tributes in St Ann’s Square and the book of condolence at Manchester’s Central Library.
Meanwhile, Princess Anne, accompanied by her husband Sir Tim Laurence is visiting the Glasgow City Chambers to meet representatives of organisations of which the Queen was patron.
The Queen's 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, which was flanked with a tall, yellow flickering candle at each corner of the wide scarlet platform.
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.
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 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 now buy Friday's historic Daily Mirror commemorating the death of the Queen here: mirror.co.uk/commemorative
You can leave your tributes to Queen Elizabeth II here
