As the prime minister prepares to head to London later this week to attend the state funeral for the late monarch, he said plans for a national day of mourning on September 22 were appropriate for the country to come together.

“This has been a time of grieving, but also, there’s been that sense of gratefulness of a life well lived, a life of service, and quite clearly over a long period of time … that affection for the Queen was there,” he told the Seven Network on Monday.

“We will have other Australians, of course, making their way to London as well, but Australians as well observing the loss of Queen Elizabeth in their own way around towns and cities right around our great nation.”

The day of mourning, a one-off public holiday, will include a national memorial service at Parliament House.

Albanese said the public holiday would be like others in terms of services being open and penalty rates for businesses, but would give the opportunity for events to be held across the country.

“(The Queen) was someone who didn’t just go to Sydney and Melbourne. She went to regional communities, remote communities and had an engagement with them,” he said.

“That’s why, I think, it’s appropriate that local communities organise commemorative events as well as the national memorial service.”

Meanwhile, Australia’s acting High Commissioner to the United Kingdom has met with King Charles III and the Queen Consort to convey the nation’s condolences to their Majesties.

“As you know, the King has a deep and broad relationship with Australia and his Majesty’s warmth for our country was evident in our brief conversation this afternoon,” Lynette Wood told reporters in London on Monday morning Australian time.

“Having visited Australia 16 times, including studying in Victoria, His Majesty knows Australia very well.”

The diplomat, who was the first Australian official to formally meet the new King, also remarked on the mood in London following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, aged 96, late last week.

“What is really striking me in these past few days is the solemnity here in London and the regard with which her Majesty is held and the strong support that is already there for King Charles III,” she said.

Later this week, the acting commissioner will greet Albanese and Governor-General David Hurley when they arrive in London ahead of the Queen’s funeral at Westminster Abbey on September 19.

Both men will depart Australia on Thursday.

Hurley on Sunday proclaimed the new king’s accession in a ceremony at Parliament House in Canberra.

Elsewhere, Victoria will proclaim the King as Australia’s new head of state on Monday.

Victoria’s Lieutenant-Governor, Chief Justice and other senior officers will swear oaths to the King in a proclamation ceremony at Government House.

All states except Victoria held their own proclamation ceremonies on Sunday.

Federal parliament has been suspended this week but some state parliaments will sit briefly on Tuesday to hear condolence motions.

In Victoria, MPs will also be required to swear allegiance to King Charles III.

Overnight in the UK, the Queen’s coffin was driven from Balmoral Castle, where she died, to Scotland’s capital, Edinburgh.

Her body will be flown to London on Tuesday where it will remain at Buckingham Palace before being taken to Westminster Hall to lie in state for four days.