Princes William and Harry united to pay a final tribute to the Queen as all eight of her grandchildren staged a solemn vigil in her honour.
Inside the majestic Westminster Hall, where the late monarch will lie-in-state until Monday morning, mourners who had queued up for hours were left aghast as the Prince of Wales led his cousins into the grand arena.
King Charles had personally asked the cousins to come together and become the first grandchildren of a monarch to take part in such an occasion, before the nation says a final goodbye at the Queen’s state funeral.
At 6pm, the duty officer struck the floor three times with his staff to signal the arrival of the royal party.
Motionless and with their heads bowed, the King’s children, Prince William, 40, wearing his Blues and Royals No1 uniform complete with blue garter sash to denote his rank in the family was followed by Prince Harry, 38, who was given special dispensation by the King to wear his Blues and Royals No1 uniform as a “mark of respect for the Queen”.
Prince Andrew’s children Princess Beatrice, 34, and Princess Eugenie, 32; Princess Anne’s children Zara Tindall, 41 and Peter Phillips, 44 and Prince Edward's two children, Lady Louise, 19, and 14-year-old James, Viscount Severn, followed to make their way to the catafalque in the middle of the mediaeval hall to stand in silence from 6.03pm for the 15-minute vigil.
Edward and Sophie, who earlier thanked well-wishers outside Buckingham Palace, stood to the east of the hall on a platform to watch over their young children who held their emotions as overawed mourners filed past the Queen’s coffin.
At 6.15pm, following two more knocks with the staff, well-wishers were paused and the eight grandchildren walked down the three steps in unison and back to the staircase.
This time Harry was at the rear - but the formation in the hall complete with carved angels in the hammerbeam roof commissioned by Richard III in the 14th century, was based on where the eight were standing, sources said.
As they made their way back up the staircase Zara's right shoe came off her foot.
She shared a smile with Lady Louise and reached down and placed her black heeled shoe on her foot - causing the rest of the mourners to wait.
As they emerged outside just minutes later, William strode forward to his waiting car.
Harry linked his left arm with Zara's right arm as they followed the Prince of Wales.
Peter Phillips was flanked back to his car with Lady Louse and Princess Beatrice.
The Queen’s grandchildren all held a deep respect and admiration for their Granny.
Prince William, who once said: "She may be my grandmother, but she is also very much the boss."
Harry had this week released his tribute celebrating the Queen's "infectious smile" and issued a personal "thank you" in a tribute to his "granny".
The Duke of Sussex shared a 229-word heartfelt outpouring hailing her "unwavering grace and dignity".
He called his "granny" a "guiding compass" and celebrated her "everlasting legacy" and said she will be sorely missed around the globe.
In his statement issued last Saturday, the Prince of Wales told the world "she was by my side at my happiest moments.
He said: "And she was by my side during the saddest days of my life. I knew this day would come, but it will be some time before the reality of life without Grannie will truly feel real.
"I thank her for the kindness she showed my family and me. And I thank her on behalf of my generation for providing an example of service and dignity in public life that was from a different age, but always relevant to us all.
And added: "My grandmother famously said that grief was the price we pay for love. All of the sadness we will feel in the coming weeks will be testament to the love we felt for our extraordinary Queen."
Still more mourners who had queued in a line across London filed through awestruck in sharing their moment with the eight grandchildren.
On Friday evening, the Queen's children - Charles, the Duke of York, the Princess Royal and the Earl of Wessex - took part in their own vigil.
They were all dressed in uniform, with an exception made for disgraced Andrew, who is no longer a working royal, to wear his military uniform as a "special mark of respect" for the Queen.
As the King accepted heartfelt messages from world leaders who have flown in for the Queen’s funeral, Charles and William delighted mourners who had queued for up to 24 hours as they stopped for an impromptu walkabout on Lambeth Bridge to say thank you.
William told them: “My grandmother wouldn’t have believed this, but she would have loved it.”
As preparations step up to bid farewell to Elizabeth II at her state funeral tomorrow (MON) Charles, 73, also thanked emergency service staff for their work during the mourning period.
Charles met London's Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley told the King the force was preparing for the “biggest security event in the force’s history”.
Meanwhile, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie also paid a heartfelt tribute to their “Grannie”, saying: “it has been the honour of our lives to have been your granddaughters”.
The Queen Consort will later this evening pay tribute to the Queen on a special BBC programme airing before the 8pm national moment of silence in honour of our late monarch.
Camilla said Her Majesty was a trailblazer for being a “solitary woman” in a male dominated world and said she would forever miss her “unforgettable smile”.
The Queen’s state funeral begins tomorrow (MON) at Westminster Abbey at 11am, before she is taken to Windsor Castle to be laid to rest next to her beloved late husband of 73-years, Prince Philip at St George’s Chapel.
