Queen Elizabeth II had a 'phenomenal, well-lived life'

The Queen had a "phenomenal, well-lived life", the Bishop of Norwich said as he joined well-wishers paying their respects at Sandringham.

Hundreds of people have visited the Royal estate in Norfolk to lay flowers following the Queen's death.

The Right Reverend Graham Usher said her Christianity enabled her to reach out in "reconciliation, hope and love".

He added a chaplaincy at Sandringham was offering a "listening ear" and support to anyone who needed it.

"What a time like this often does is bubble up people's emotions from other losses and memories in their life", he said.

"Some people just want to tell me why they are here - and overridingly it's because they had immense respect and care for the Queen.

"She had a phenomenal life, a long life, a well-lived life.

"A life that has its foundations in her Christian faith and that's what enabled her to reach out in reconciliation, where there has been division; hope, where there has been despair in communities, or disaster.

"And love, that way of her majesty among people, which enabled them to thrive."

He said there was a long tradition of the Bishop of Norwich being invited to stay at Sandringham on the weekend after Christmas, which he described as an "immense privilege".

Asked if he could share anything from their time together, he said: "Being driven by the Queen is quite an experience.

"I think she learned to drive during the Second World War in a Land Rover and she obviously thoroughly enjoyed driving, and was very good company."

Father and daughter Stephen and Heidi Smith travelled to Sandringham from Cambridge, describing it as "a place of sanctuary".

"We visit probably once a week to walk around the grounds, to feel very close to the Royal Family," said Mr Smith, 66.

"I was a serving member of the Royal Air Force for nearly 24 years, so I do have this close connection - I served for them, and was very proud to do that.

"I am quite emotional today."

Ms Smith added: "She has been such a constant, throughout all our lives, it just doesn't seem real to me."

The chairman of the Royal Variety Charity, of which the Queen was patron, said she had been a great supporter of its work throughout her reign.

Giles Cooper was at the Sandringham estate "on business" when concerns about her health were announced, and laid flowers there on Friday.

The charity puts on the annual Royal Variety Show, which he said the Queen had attended 39 times since 1954.

"It's just terribly sad; everyone is letting the news sink in," he said.

"The Queen was such a great supporter of everybody in entertainment for so long, and our patron for the full 70 years."

The charity assists people who have worked in the entertainment industry and fallen on hard times, with funds raised by its televised theatre show.

He has hosted the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh and other royals as they watched the Royal Variety Performance from the Royal box and then met its stars backstage.

"She was lovely, as you'd expect," he said.

"What you saw on TV was very much how she was.

"She was so interested, and enjoyed entertainment."

Dolores McKenna, 58, had brought her two-year-old grandson Phoenix, who laid flowers while cuddling a Paddington Bear, the co-star of a heart-warming sketch with the Queen for her Platinum Jubilee.

"The Queen is part of our heritage and she's just such a lovely woman," said teaching assistant Ms McKenna, from King's Lynn.

"We have followed her all of our lives, and [Phoenix] has all of his life.

"We are saddened by it all, like everyone else, and we're overwhelmed by it.

"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."

Norfolk Police said it had put a one-way traffic system in place around the estate for safety.

Police officers are guiding members of the public to car parks, with all visitor facilities at Sandringham closed until further notice.

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