King Charles III arrived at Buckingham Palace to cheers of 'long live the king' and thousands of flowers stacked by the gates. Take a look.

I was among thousands to gather at Buckingham Palace on Friday. Most people there were paying tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and welcoming the reign of her son, King Charles III.

The Queen died at her residence in Balmoral, Scotland, on Thursday. While her body has yet to be moved to London, that didn't stop crowds from flocking to Buckingham Palace to memorialize her.

People carrying flowers formed a massive, yet orderly line along Constitution Hill. Most were patiently awaiting their turn to drop flowers in front of the palace.

Also present were lots of news reporters and film crews, attempting to capture the scale of the moment.

As I got closer to the palace, I noticed a line of white tents in front of the crowds. This is where TV presenters were filming live broadcasts.

At the palace, bunches of colorful bouquets stacked to the height of my shoulder engulfed the gates.

At one point, there were so many flowers that palace staff began removing some of them and bringing them inside.

Among the flowers, which ranged from sunflowers to white roses, was a Canadian flag that waved in the wind.

One attendee, an Australian woman who said her name was Lynda, told me that what she respected most about Queen Elizabeth II was how she did her job without complaint.

"That's what I love about her," Lynda said. "She didn't really want this, she just served out of the kindness of what she thought duty was."

Outside of the palace, I also spoke with Jake English who said he and his family are American and just happened to be in the UK on a family vacation.

English, who said he works for the US embassy in El Salvador, said his family had to adapt some of their vacation plans, but that they were grateful to be part of a historic moment. "70 years as a queen, that's impressive," he said.

Later on, I noticed how many people with children had brought them to the palace. One mother I overheard said she did it because "you'll always know where you were that day."

There were some interesting moments. These included seeing some people drinking beer and others trying to find space among the crowd by hopping barriers.

It was difficult to move an inch in front of Buckingham Palace. Everywhere was jam-packed with people waiting with flowers and those hoping to catch a glimpse of Charles.

Helicopters flying close to Buckingham Palace around 2 p.m. signaled that Charles' arrival was imminent. And that's when policemen started to tell the crowd to move back.

When he finally arrived with Camilla, Queen consort, the crowd erupted into cheers and some called out "long live the king."

Given the sheer number of people who turned out on Friday, I counted myself lucky to have even caught a brief glimpse of Charles, who later said "thank you" to his mother in his first address to the nation as king.

Source: Insider