King Charles and Prince William have paid a surprise visit to Brits queuing to pay their respects to the Queen lying in state in Westminster Hall.
Mourning Brits were left delighted as the new King and Prince of Wales worked their way down the line on the unplanned walkabout.
William was heard asking members of the crowd if they had been queuing all night as he held their hands while one woman touched his, and she consoled him over the loss of his grandmother.
The heir to the throne thanked members of the public for their condolences, and for waiting in line for many hours for the Queen’s lying in state, as he shook hands with mourners.
He told people "we love the queue" and described the huge line as "unbelievable" as he spoke to the crowd near Lambeth Bridge.
He even joked "we can't all be perfect" after one boy told him he was a Manchester United fan.
The light-hearted comment came with a rupture of laughter and cheered up mourners that had been waiting hours on end to pay their respects to the late Queen.
Meanwhile an Aston Villa supporter was heard chanting "up the Villa" as the Prince passed him by chuckling.
"She would never believe it honestly, she would love it," William told a royal fan, sharing how his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, would have been amazed at the audience.
Members of the crowd could be heard telling William how they'd travelled from Amsterdam and the Czech Republic, to which he replied expressing his shock and gratitude.
The Prince of Wales also reassured members of the public that they had passed the queue's half-way mark.
He added: "Thank you so much for queueing, I've been praying for the weather to stay good."
Several people cried after meeting him, and one woman told him: “You’ll be a brilliant king one day”.
One fan was clutching a giant Paddington Bear teddy and explained how she'd came from Peru to take it to the hall.
"Thank you so much for coming," he said, making sure to try and reach the waving hands at the back of the crowd.
Meanwhile an aide for The King and the Prince of Wales told mourners in the queue to 'put the phones down and enjoy the moment' after the royals paid the well-wishers an unexpected visit.
William was overheard thanking people for waiting so long, and they were thanking him in return for brightening their day.
The Prince of Wales stopped to chat to people of all ages, shaking hands and crouching down to check on young children as they stood at the front of the barrier.
"It's a long way to go isn't it," he says, checking that a child had snacks and hadn't been too cold.
"I'm sorry about the wait," he said to another person. "You're over halfway now, you're doing really well."
He listened to the stories of their travels, asked people where they had come from, then expressed his surprise at them queuing for so long.
He told others that he hoped they had made friends for life, and apologised for holding up the crowd by greeting them.
"William you'll make a fantastic King," a woman said, while another corrected her: "You'll make a fantastic Prince of Wales."
Dozens shouted "hip hip hooray" as Charles and William moved down the line, stopping for a few moments with each person.
Several people called their friends and relatives on the phone to tell them what they had just witnessed.
Meanwhile, cries of "hip hip hooray'" and "God Save the King" rang out as Charles shook the hands of well-wishers gathered along the bank of the River Thames.
One lady offered Charles condolences as he shook her hand, and another shouted: “I can’t believe this.”
An aide for The King and the Prince of Wales told mourners in the queue to "put the phones down and enjoy the moment" during the meet and greet.
Charles left before William, both of them in cars surrounded by police vehicles.
It comes after His Majesty thanked Metropolitan Police officers for providing a "ring of steel" for the Queen's funeral.
The monarch beamed as he greeted officers at the force's Special Operations Room in London today.
Her Majesty's funeral is expected to be Britain's biggest security operation to date.
Charles waved to well-wishers before speaking to some of the officers involved in policing the event.
He also shook hands with London Mayor Sadiq Khan and spoke to Home Secretary Suella Braverman.
The Met Police is expecting hundreds of thousands of people to descend on the capital for the procession next week.
Almost 15,000 officers have been tasked with ensuring the event goes off without a hitch.
More than 30 people have already been arrested in the capital ahead of the monarch's funeral.
The Met’s Deputy Assistant Commissioner, Stuart Cundy, said 34 people had been arrested for a "range of offences".
He added: "This will be the single largest policing operation that the Met has ever undertaken and I think is likely to undertake.
"Our policing operation first and foremost is to ensure the safety and security of the state funeral as well as those who are coming to London to pay their respects and remember Her Majesty The Queen."
Motorbike escort riders, mounted police, canine units and firearms officers will all be involved in the mammoth operation.
More than 22 miles of barriers have been erected in central London as part of crowd control measures.
Those waiting in the queue, which now has its own BBC weather forecast, faced temperatures of 7C just before 7am on Saturday.
At the time, the official queue tracker advised the public not to make the journey.
The Queen's state funeral is due to take place at 11am on Monday, September 19 - with representatives from all bar six countries invited to attend.
With the service happening at Westminster Abbey, it makes history as the first royal funeral to take place there in more than 300 years.
It is expected that billions of people from all over the world will tune in to watch it on television.
