WELL-WISHERS have left hundreds of floral tributes and kind messages at the country home of the nation's new sovereign.

Among the message left at the gates of the Highgrove House estate near Tetbury is the poignant image being shared on social media showing the Queen, one of her Corgis and Paddington with the wording 'I've done my duties Paddington, please take me to my husband'.

Meanwhile, windows in Tetbury town centre have decorated with photographs and Union Flags and there are also memorials in Minchinhampton, the nearest town to Gatcombe Park, home of Princess Anne.

King Charles III returned to the county on Wednesday evening for a period of reflection as thousands queued in the capital for the chance to pay their respects to the Queen as her coffin lies in state at Westminster Hall.

The King and Queen Consort visited Cardiff today as part of their royal tour ahead of Monday's funeral.

Highgrove serves as the private home of Charles and his wife Camilla, now the Queen Consort, and is something of a sanctuary for the King.

A passionate gardener, Charles has spent more than 40 years devoting his energy into transforming the gardens around the house, which are now visited by thousands of people every year.

Archive photographs from Clarence House show Charles, aged in his 30s, with secateurs in one hand and a cutting of a shrub in the other, dressed casually in an opened-necked checked shirt and belted chinos, as he walks through the meadow in front of Highgrove House.

The organic gardens opened annually to the public in 1994 and in 2019 Clarence House said tours, along with events, retail and catering at Highgrove have raised more than £7 million for charity over the past quarter of a century.

Highgrove was acquired by Charles in 1980, when it had only a kitchen garden, an overgrown copse, some pastureland and a few hollow oaks.

The gardens are now peppered with personal touches and the mark of the family – from a tree planted by Prince George to the treehouse built for a young Prince William.

Pictures by Paul Nicholls