AceShowbiz - Catherine, Princess of Wales held an audience with the First Lady of Ukraine at Buckingham Palace. On Sunday, the 40-year-old royal met Olena Zelenska - who is the wife of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy - at the reception at the Palace from the war-torn country as the world leader is expected to represent her country at Queen Elizabeth's funeral on Monday (19.09.22).

After arriving in the capital city from Ukraine - which has been suffering an ongoing attack at the hands of neighbouring country Russia since February 2022, Olena was pictured shortly before 4.45pm with other members of the Ukrainian contingent as she sat with the Princess on matching gingham chairs as they both wore black to mark the passing of Queen Elizabeth.

As Olene sat with Catherine - who is married to William, Prince of Wales, and has Princes George, nine, and Louis, four, with him as well as seven-year-old Princess Charlotte - she was spotted wearing a rushnyk, a piece of fabric embroidered with traditional Ukrainian symbols, in an apparent attempt to show her solidarity with her home country.

Just hours prior to the meeting, Olena was seen entering Westminster Hall - where the late monarch is currently lying in state - to pay her respects to the Queen, who died on September 8 at the age of 96.

The State Funeral of Queen Elizabeth is expected to be attended by 500 world leaders, with US President Joe Biden arriving in the capital city on Saturday night reflecting that the monarch always reminded him of his late mother.

Speaking after visiting the coffin, he said, "To all the people of England and all the people of the UK, our hearts go out to you and you were fortunate to have had her for 70 years, we all were. The world is better for her. Thank you. She reminded me of my mother. Just because of the way she touched when she leaned over."

"The way she had that look, like, 'are you okay? Anything I can do for you? What do you need?' and then also: 'Make sure you do what you are supposed to do.' "