UK’s longest-serving monarch, Queen Elizabeth II has died at Balmoral aged 96, after reigning for 70 years.
This development was confirmed in a statement by the family.
It could be recalled that the Queen, who witnessed enormous social change, came to the throne in 1952.
In a swift reaction, newly elected Prime Minister Liz Truss said the Queen was the rock on which modern Britain was built, and the new King would be known as King Charles III.
On his part, His Majesty the King, who also becomes head of state for 14 Commonwealth realms, said in a statement that: “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.”
The King added that during the period of mourning and change he and his family would be “comforted and sustained by our knowledge of the respect and deep affection in which The Queen was so widely held”.
Meanwhile, Buckingham Palace in a statement said: “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.”
PM Truss averred that the monarch “provided us with the stability and strength that we needed” and the country would support the new King.
“We offer him our loyalty and devotion, just as his mother devoted so much, to so many, for so long,” she said.
“And with the passing of the second Elizabethan age, we usher in a new era in the magnificent history of our great country, exactly as Her Majesty would have wished, by saying the words ‘God save the King’.”
It is germane to note that Queen Elizabeth II’s tenure as head of state spanned post-war austerity, the transition from empire to Commonwealth, the end of the Cold War and the UK’s entry into – and withdrawal from – the European Union.
The late Queen’s reign spanned 15 prime ministers starting with Winston Churchill, born in 1874, and including Truss, born 101 years later in 1975.
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