Visitors to the Queen’s Norfolk home have laid hundreds of bouquets featuring lilies, roses, and local sunflowers in tribute to the late monarch.

Her Sandringham estate has become a focal point for people wishing to pay their respects.

The mass of flowers already lines the walls beneath the railings on either side of the estate's main Norwich Gates.

Eastern Daily Press: Tributes outside Sandringham Estate's Norwich GateTributes outside Sandringham Estate's Norwich Gate (Image: Donna-Louise Bishop)

Arrangements have been made to accommodate large numbers of people, with the road beside the gates closed to traffic and floodlights put along it, and police controlling roads into the estate with a one-way system.

Eastern Daily Press: Floral tributes and messages at the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk following the death of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday. Picture date: Friday September 9, 2022.Floral tributes and messages at the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk following the death of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday. Picture date: Friday September 9, 2022. (Image: PA Wire/PA Images)

Teddy bears and tealights have been laid by the iron gates, as well as hundreds of carefully placed bouquets of flowers, many of them with handwritten messages attached.

The estate itself is closed today, including its restaurant and shop, although staff are present to help and support visitors.

Eastern Daily Press: Mourners gather to lay flowers and pay their respects at the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk following the death of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday. Picture date: Friday September 9, 2022.Mourners gather to lay flowers and pay their respects at the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk following the death of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday. Picture date: Friday September 9, 2022. (Image: PA Wire/PA Images)

The church is also shut to the public.

The flowers and other items will remain at the Norwich Gates for the foreseeable future while the messages from well-wishes will be photographed to send to the Royal Family before they are collected and passed on to them at a later date.

This includes the sweet message from a young child who has written in a bright pink highlighter pen: “I love you. Thank you for being our queen. We will miss you.”

Eastern Daily Press: Mourners gather to lay flowers and pay their respects at the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk following the death of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday. Picture date: Friday September 9, 2022.Mourners gather to lay flowers and pay their respects at the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk following the death of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday. Picture date: Friday September 9, 2022. (Image: PA Wire/PA Images)

And also a hand-drawn picture of the Union flag and photographs of individuals when they met the Queen.

The estate's staff has worked through the night to keep the messages waterproof with plastic wallets and covers.

Two-year-old Phoenix Child clutched a Paddington Bear toy as he laid a bouquet of flowers at the gates, encouraged by his grandmother Dolores McKenna.

Eastern Daily Press: Floral tributes and messages at the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk following the death of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday. Picture date: Friday September 9, 2022.Floral tributes and messages at the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk following the death of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday. Picture date: Friday September 9, 2022. (Image: PA Wire/PA Images)

Teaching assistant Ms McKenna, 58, from the nearby town of King’s Lynn, said: “The Queen is part of our heritage and she’s just such a lovely woman.

“We’ve followed her all our lives and (Phoenix) has all of his life.

“She’s just a wonderful person.”

She said she felt “saddened” and “overwhelmed” by news of the Queen’s death.

“We knew it was imminent but not this quick,” said Ms McKenna.

“She’s died with dignity, which is so lovely, and her faith has sustained her through this journey as well to the very end.

“That’s a quality I admire in her as well.”

Eastern Daily Press: Mourners gather to lay flowers and pay their respects at the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk following the death of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday. Picture date: Friday September 9, 2022.Mourners gather to lay flowers and pay their respects at the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk following the death of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday. Picture date: Friday September 9, 2022. (Image: PA Wire/PA Images)

Food technologist Lisa Meyer, also from King’s Lynn, said the news “sort of hit me” when she heard, adding she was “absolutely devastated”.

The 50-year-old said: “The Queen’s been around all of my life.”

She said the news particularly affected her as it was “losing someone who’s always been around” and also because her “paternal grandmother looked very like her” and would get mistaken for the Queen.

“She would come for walks around Sandringham when she was alive and people would say ‘morning ma’am’ as she used to dress a little bit like her,” said Ms Meyer.

“It was always a running joke in our family that we had the Queen in our family as well.

“I think it was a mixture of that bringing back memories as well.

“I was absolutely devastated.

“The first thing I did was I went to see my mum and dad and said we need to pay our respects.

“It was a little bit too late to come last night so first thing this morning before I started work we had a drive up here.

“Just to do something to get those feelings out.”

She said she will visit again at the weekend with her children.

Eastern Daily Press: Mourners gather to lay flowers and pay their respects at the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk following the death of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday. Picture date: Friday September 9, 2022.Mourners gather to lay flowers and pay their respects at the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk following the death of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday. Picture date: Friday September 9, 2022. (Image: PA Wire/PA Images)

Gardener Hilary-Fay Mellor, who laid a bouquet of flowers, said: “She was such a remarkable woman and she was the same age as my mum.

“That generation were just quite extraordinary.

“There’ll never be people, I don’t think, with that strength again.

“She was sort of glue that held people together.

“I think she was a very strong, devoted sovereign.”

She said she decided to lay a floral tribute as “it just feels like when everyone’s at a bit of a loss it’s something that people can all come together to do”.

“It’s something you can do when everybody’s perhaps feeling a bit wobbly,” said the 63-year-old, from the village of Heacham.

Eastern Daily Press: John Houston of the Merchant Navy Association pays his respects at the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk following the death of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday. Picture date: Friday September 9, 2022.John Houston of the Merchant Navy Association pays his respects at the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk following the death of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday. Picture date: Friday September 9, 2022. (Image: PA Wire/PA Images)

Her son Seth Mellor, 23, recalled the Queen visiting his school when he was a child.

“Someone who’s that important to the country, them coming just to a primary school or high school, it sort of shows what sort of a person she was,” he said.

“To take that time just to come to a primary school and shake hands with an 11-year-old, that shows she was a woman of the people, definitely.

“In a sort of sad way in a time when a lot of us are sort of divided in a lot of different ways, it has brought our country together.”

A statement posted on Sandringham Estate's social media read: "Sandringham Estate has now entered a period of official Royal Mourning following the death of Her Majesty The Queen.

"For those wishing to pay their respects in person, a one-way system is in operation on the Estate via Double Lodges to visit the Norwich Gates only. Please ensure you follow any diversion signs in place for car parking and dress appropriately for inclement weather.

"The Living Heritage Game and Country Fair planned for this weekend will not be taking place. All facilities at Sandringham remain closed until further notice. Visitors with admissions tickets or tickets to the Living Heritage event will be contacted in due course."