Bells tolled around Britain on Friday and mourners flocked to palace gates to honour Queen Elizabeth II, as the country prepared for a new age under a new king.

King Charles III, who spent much of his 73 years preparing for the role, planned to meet with the prime minister and address a nation grieving the only British monarch most of the world had known. He takes the throne in an era of uncertainty for both his country and the monarchy itself.

As the country began a 10-day mourning period, people around the globe gathered at British embassies to pay homage to the queen, who died Thursday in Balmoral Castle in Scotland. A 96-gun salute was planned in London one for each year of the queen's long life. In Britain and across its former colonies, the widespread admiration for Elizabeth herself was occasionally mixed with scorn for the institution and the imperial history she represented.

On the king's first full day of duties Friday, he left Balmoral en route to London, where he's expected to meet Prime Minister Liz Truss, appointed just this week. In the evening he will deliver a speech to the nation at a time when many Britons are preoccupied with an energy crisis, the soaring cost of living, the war in Ukraine and the fallout from Brexit.

Hundreds of people arrived through the night to leave flowers outside the gates of Buckingham Palace, the monarch's London home, or simply to pause and reflect.

Finance worker Giles Cudmore said the queen had just been a constant through everything, everything good and bad.

She's just been the foundation of my life, the country, he said.

(AP)