The Royal Parks said no gifts or art would be accepted and that non-plant items should not be brought. Flowers and tributes outside Buckingham Palace (Victoria Jones/PA) (PA Wire) A jam sandwich at Balmoral (PA Wire) Thousands of well-wishers have laid flowers near Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and Balmoral since the monarch’s death was announced on Thursday. Writing on its website, The Royal Parks said people are being asked to leave floral tributes at a special location in Green Park near the late Queen’s London residence. Mourners are asked to remove any wrapping from flowers before placing them. Floral shrines at royal residences in recent days have included tributes such as teddy bears, corgi soft toys, balloons and jam sandwiches in a nod to the Queen’s platinum jubilee sketch with Paddington Bear. The Duke of Sussex, Duchess of Sussex, Prince of Wales and Princess of Wales view floral tributes left by members of the public at Windsor Castle (PA Wire) The Royal Parks said cards and tags would be accepted, adding: “Unfortunately, gifts and art objects will not be accepted and the public is asked not to bring them into the parks. “You must not bring non-floral objects/artifacts such as teddy bears or balloons.” They added that it will not be possible to light candles in the parks and that lit candles will be extinguished. Huge queues formed on Sunday to get to Buckingham Palace (PA) Tributes will remain at the site until all ceremonial activities have taken place and it is expected that flowers will be removed from the park grounds seven to 14 days after the date of the funeral. Damaged flowers will be removed and taken to the Hyde Park Nursery for processing to prepare for composting. It comes after the Queen’s coffin left Balmoral on Sunday morning to begin the long journey to her final resting place in London. As it exited the gates of the country estate – known to be the monarch’s favorite Scottish residence – the cortege passed masses of floral tributes. BFloral tributes placed outside Balmoral Castle (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) Among them was a special gift that shows the warmth and affection with which the queen was held. “A jam sandwich for your journey ma’am,” read the label on the small sealed bag – a nod to the Queen’s much-loved platinum jubilee sketch of her having tea at Buckingham Palace with popular children’s character Paddington Bear. A wreath placed over the coffin was made up of flowers from the Balmoral estate, including sweet peas – a favorite of the Queen’s – dahlias, phlox, white heather and pine fir. The Queen died on Friday, aged 96 (PA Wire) The Princess Royal – the Queen’s only daughter – and her husband, Admiral Sir Tim Lawrence, the vicar of the nearby Crathie Kirk church frequented by the monarch, and a representative of the Lord Chamberlain’s Office were in her entourage. Onlookers described the ’emotional moment’ as they bid a quiet farewell to the ‘only queen we ever knew’. While around 5,000 people were estimated by council officials to have been bused to Balmoral from the nearby villages of Ballater and Braemar since Friday, the public had been encouraged to go to points along the route to Edinburgh, rather than congregating at Balmoral, on Sunday.
