Queen Elizabeth II died at the age of 96, according to Buckingham Palace.
“The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon. The King and the Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow,” the palace said in a statement.
Flags were lowered to half-mast across the United Kingdom ahead of a national minute of respect and the commencement of an official period of grief.
Her eldest son, Charles, is set to address the country as king for the first time soon, with a coronation ceremony to follow.
On Thursday, when word of Queen Elizabeth II’s death spread, tearful faces could be seen outside the gates of Buckingham Palace.
The gathering mob has begun to sing quietly, “God Save the Queen.”
Charles came to the throne shortly after his mother, Queen Elizabeth, died.
In announcing Queen Elizabeth’s death, the Royal family referred to Charles as King. Camila was referred to as Queen Consort II in a tweet.
During her extremely long reign as Queen of the United Kingdom and 14 other countries, as well as head of the 54-nation Commonwealth, Elizabeth II was arguably the world’s most recognised head of state.
During WWII, as a young princess, she initially took on public tasks, speaking on radio and being appointed as one of her father’s effective deputies as counsellor of state.
She married Philip Mountbatten in 1947 and had four children with him before his death in 2021: Charles, Anne, Andrew, and Edward.
She succeeded her father, George VI, as Queen in 1952, and went on to become the country’s longest-lived and longest-serving monarch.
Despite a family life lived in the spotlight, Elizabeth II maintained a steady and steady presence, weathering three of her children’s divorces and the crisis prompted by the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, in a car collision in Paris in 1997.
Fifteen prime ministers served her, demonstrating her extensive knowledge, expertise in international affairs, and mastery of political neutrality. They dated back to Sir Winston Churchill, who was still prime minister when she ascended to the throne, with zeal and considerably sooner than she had anticipated, following the death of her father, George VI, in 1952.
The laws of succession were amended, enabling first-born girls to ascend over sons and those in the line of succession to marry a Catholic, but not to be one.
The Queen, a fervent, churchgoing Christian, unveiled herself in her annual Christmas presentation, which she produced herself. She took her role as head of the Church of England seriously, even if it meant avoiding Charles’ civil marriage to Camilla Parker Bowles by missing part of the ceremony at the registration office. Nonetheless, when she got to the throne, a marriage between two divorcees seemed unimaginable, but one she eventually accepted.
She was heartbroken after the death of her longstanding companion, Philip, in his sleep in April 2021, during the COVID epidemic. She sat alone and grieved in St George’s chapel, Windsor Castle, for the moving funeral, which was drastically reduced due to coronavirus limitations. The royal couple had spent the last months of their lives together in lockdown, sheltered at Windsor Castle due to their sensitivity to the virus due to their elderly age.
While many nations grieve the loss of a queen, one family mourns the loss of a mother of four, grandmother of eight, and great-grandmother of twelve.
Author: Editorial Staff
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