Sea of flowers across the four corners of the Queen's kingdom

As flowers were laid there were heartfelt prayers, and silent tears fell as church bells tolled in unison across the breadth of a heartsore nation.

Poignant tributes, paid to honour the loss of a steadfast Queen, spoke of her stoicism and fortitude and the sacrifice of a mother who carried the weight of a kingdom's fortune.

And across the four countries of the United Kingdom crowds of thousands gathered to pay their respects.

A sea of flowers could be seen from Balmoral to Belfast and Buckingham Palace, Holyrood and Cardiff Castle.

Outside St Paul's Cathedral, Susanna Fataki was emotional, speaking of the relief she drew from the Queen’s Covid address to the nation.

Dressed in black, the 40-year-old said: "I feel like I've lost a member of my family."

As the crowds swelled to pay their respects, they left teddies, cards and mementos.

Dawn McCrudden, 51, a former private in the Royal Corps of Signals, was visibly upset as she lay flowers at Cambridge Gate.

"I have known no other Queen,” she said. “When I took my oath it was the proudest day of my life."

At the National Memorial Arboretum flowers were laid at the foot of a golden birch, planted by the Queen on her Golden Jubilee tour.

One read: "Your duty, now, is done Ma'am."

Tears fell and hugs were shared as people gathered at impromptu memorials to the Queen across Northern Ireland.

On Belfast's Shankhill Road, at a mural to mark the Platinum Jubilee, a carpet of flowers spread out below the wall portrait of a youthful Queen.

Community gardener Stuart Findley has responsibility for the mural's upkeep.

“To the Shankill, she's basically a grandmother and a mother to people,” he said.

And in Edinburgh, at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, a two-year-old girl named after the Queen left her own tribute to the late monarch.

Elizabeth Ewan was brought to the royal family's official Scottish residence by her father Samuel, who said: "We just wanted to pay our respects."

As a 96-gun salute was sounded 1pm, each shot represented a year of the Queen's life, with tributes from Portsmouth to Gibraltar.

To Kathryn Hudson from Cardiff, one of her earliest memories was visiting the castle aged three when Charles was made the Prince of Wales in 1969.

"I thanked her for her strength and service," she said of her own note. "For her care and compassion. And for quietly standing up for the well being of her citizens, which is what I believe she has done over the years.

"We're in turmoil in this country and I think she has always been the strength."