World leaders extended condolences and paid tribute to the queen. We had a woman who was in power as someone to look up to.” “It marks the end of an era, particularly as a woman. “As a young person, this is a really huge moment,” said Romy McCarthy, 20.

Hundreds soon gathered in the rain, and mourners laid dozens of colorful bouquets at the gates. Prime Minister Liz Truss, appointed by the queen just 48 hours earlier, pronounced the country “devastated” and called Elizabeth “the rock on which modern Britain was built.”īritish subjects outside Buckingham Palace wept when officials carried a notice confirming the queen’s death to the wrought-iron gates of the queen’s London home. The changing of the guard comes at a fraught moment for Britain, which has a brand-new prime minister and is grappling with an energy crisis, double-digit inflation, the war in Ukraine and the fallout from Brexit. In a statement, Charles called his mother’s death “a moment of the greatest sadness for me and all members of my family,” adding: “I know her loss will be deeply felt throughout the country, the Realms and the Commonwealth, and by countless people around the world.” The BBC played the national anthem, “God Save the Queen,” over a portrait of Elizabeth in full regalia as her death was announced, and the flag over Buckingham Palace was lowered to half-staff as the second Elizabethan age came to a close.

Charles’ second wife, Camilla, will be known as the Queen Consort.Ī funeral was to be held after 10 days of official mourning. British monarchs in the past have selected new names upon taking the throne. Her 73-year-old son Prince Charles automatically became king and will be known as King Charles III, it was announced. The palace announced she died at Balmoral Castle, her summer residence in Scotland, where members of the royal family had rushed to her side after her health took a turn for the worse.Ī link to the almost-vanished generation that fought World War II, she was the only monarch most Britons have ever known. LONDON (AP) - Queen Elizabeth II, Britain’s longest-reigning monarch and a symbol of stability in a turbulent era that saw the decline of the British empire and disarray in her own family, died Thursday after 70 years on the throne.

Queen the story of an american family