People from all over the UK, young and old, are gathering outside Buckingham Palace to mourn and reflect on the life of Queen Elizabeth II – the nation's longest-serving monarch. 

To many, it is a deeply personal loss. One woman commented "She's just always been a constant – she's like a grandmother."

Outside Buckingham Palace, soon after the notice was pinned to the gates to confirm her passing, the crowd sang the national anthem together as they processed the news that the Queen would never again be seen on the balcony waving to the nation. 

One man explained the unifying effect: "She's probably the one thing that everyone in Britain at least has some respect for."

In theaters and public spaces across the nation, the national anthem was played to commemorate the life of the Queen. 

Transport for London paid tribute by replacing all its electronic posters in bus shelters and train stations across the capital to the memory of the Queen and putting up announcements in stations around London.

Samuel Clarke, a 25 year-old student at the Glasgow academy of fine art, decided to come to The Mall to paint the scene on canvas and capture the moment of ordinary people walking towards the Palace to pay their respects. "It's quite a day and I wanted to record it in some way," he said.

The Royal Family has enjoyed a surge in popularity in recent years as the Netflix series The Crown dramatised the life of the Queen introducing her to younger generations. 

As the UK became more divided in recent years over Brexit and more recently the pandemic, people have increasingly looked to the Queen for stability and taken comfort in her stoic approach and adherence to protocol. 

As one man outside Buckingham Palace explained, "She was the one who was always there bringing peace and calm to the country."

With King Charles III about to be crowned, people are starting to imagine what sort of leader he will be. Philippa from Southhampton is confident he will be a good leader – "He's a man of honour so I support him" – but "He's got opinions that he hasn't had to hold back on over the years, so he's going to have to get used to a new way of life now." 

Her companion Dirk from Germany agrees: "He has had a long time training, I think he looked to his mum for advice and he learned lots of things from her – I'm sure he will do well." 

However, Charles will have to do some work to convince Rosie from Bromley – she's worried: "I like girl power, I like women being in power, so I'm not ideally into having a king."