A FAMILY of five collected a bathful of flowers and took them to Buckingham Palace to pay tribute to the late Queen.

Southampton-born Russell White went around supermarkets on Saturday asking them to donate bouquets in memory of Her Majesty.

He took his nine-year-old daughter Brooke, his fiancée Gemma McCormack, 30, and her daughters Rosie, eight, and Faith, nine.

The 45-year-old told the Echo: "We thought it would be a good idea to go around big retail stores to get them to donate flowers. We went to Lidl, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Morrison’s, and Asda. We got big bouquets, small ones, posh ones, all kinds.

"We got a whole bath full of flowers, 70 to 80 bunches. We thought it would be a nice gesture to take a trip up to Buckingham Palace."

Read more: Nine-year-old girl receives one of The Queen's final letters

On Sunday morning, the family set out at 7.30am to make their way to London, with flowers filling the car boot.

Daily Echo: The car boot full of flowersThe car boot full of flowers (Image: Russell White)

The journey from Taunton, Somerset, where Russell has lived for the last eight years, took three hours.

They then walked for ten minutes carrying the flowers in their arms.

The Palace was so busy they could not get to the gates. Instead, they laid the bouquets down, along with many other people, at a nearby tree.

Russell said: "We couldn't get near because there were so many people. We laid them down near the tree where the Queen rode her horses."

Read more: What is happening in the days up to the Queen's funeral

The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral on Thursday afternoon.

Russell said the family were “upset” and shocked by the news.

He said: “We respect the Queen. She has done so much for our country. (The news) made us cry a little bit. She’s done so, so much and we really appreciate her doing that.

“She’s supported and protected our country. It was a shock, we were upset, a mixture of emotions really. It hit us quite bad.”

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