Queen Elizabeth II passed away at Balmoral on Thursday evening at the age of 96 after a 70-year reign of devoted service to the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth during which she scarcely put a foot wrong.
With her was her eldest son, who now becomes King and will be titled Charles III, and her grandson, William, who takes over as heir to the throne.
Her passing was announced in a simple message from 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.”
Charles was quick to release a statement: “The death of my beloved Mother, Her Majesty The Queen, is a moment of the greatest sadness for me and all members of my family. We mourn profoundly the passing of a cherished sovereign and a much-loved mother.
“I know her loss will be deeply felt throughout the country, the Realms and the Commonwealth and by countless people around the world. During this period of mourning and change, my family and I will be comforted and sustained by our knowledge of the respect and deep affection in which the Queen was so widely held.”
Outside Buckingham Palace in London, huge crowds which had been gathering in the rain, began crying as they heard of her death and saw the royal standard being lowered.
The Queen’s great contribution is that she provided stability to the nation over seven decades during which Britain changed beyond recognition. She was almost taken for granted so questions will now be asked about the future of the monarchy.
Her end came unexpectedly swiftly. The Queen seemed to be in reasonable health only on Monday when she accepted Boris Johnson’s resignation and invited Liz Truss to be her 15th Prime Minister.
The new Prime Minister said the Queen leaves a “great legacy”.
“Today the Crown passes, as it has done for more than a thousand years, to our new monarch, our new head of state, His Majesty King Charles III. With the King’s family, we mourn the loss of his mother and come together. We offer him our loyalty and devotion, just as his mother devoted so much to us for so long.”
Truss finished her statement saying it is “the passing of the second Elizabethan age”.
She concluded: “God save the King.”
Outside Downing Street, Truss added that “we are all devastated” at the news of the Queen’s death.
She described the Queen as “a rock on which modern Britain was built”, and that “Britain is the great country it is today because of her”.
On Wednesday night, the Queen was due to hold a virtual meeting of the Privy Council but this was postponed at the last minute.
In the Commons, Speaker Lindsay Hoyle interrupted the debate on Truss’s much anticipated energy cap, to inform MPs: “I know I speak on behalf of the entire House when I say that we send our best wishes to Her Majesty the Queen, and that she and her family are in our thoughts and prayers at this moment.”
It was clear all was not well when Charles, with his wife, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, Prince William, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew, his brother Edward, and the Earl of Wessex hurried to her side.
With her husband Prince Philip by her side, she made three visits to India — in 1961, 1983 and 1997. On the 1983 visit, the Queen met India Gandhi and also presented Mother Teresa with an honorary Order of Merit. In 1997, the Queen’s visit was timed to mark India’s celebration of 50 years of Independence.
