The Archbishop of York sang a hymn with the first three mourners waiting in line to pay their respects to the Queen.
The Most Reverend Stephen Cottrell, who is part of the group who will receive the Queen’s coffin, joined those at the front of the queue outside Lambeth Palace on Tuesday evening in a rendition of Praise, My Soul, The King Of Heaven.
The archbishop said: “As part of the Accession Council, I thought I’d come and say hello.”
He added: “I think the Queen’s last great gift to the nation is to bring us together.”
He said the respect for the Queen shown by the people waiting in line to attend the lying in state was “fabulous”.
The archbishop said in a post on Twitter: “These amazing ladies are numbers one, two and three in the queue to pay their last respects to our late Majesty the Queen.
“I chatted with them this evening and we sang the first verse of Praise My soul The King Of Heaven. Wonderful!”
Today, at 2.22pm, a procession will take the late monarch from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall where she will lie in state.
The King will follow the coffin on foot, joined by his sons the Prince of Wales and Duke of Sussex, as well as the Duke of York, the Princess Royal and the Earl of Wessex.
The procession is set to arrive at Westminster Hall at 3pm.
A service lasting around 20 minutes will be led by the Archbishop of Canterbury accompanied by the Dean of Westminster.
The lying in state opens to the public at 5pm and will be accessible 24 hours a day.