The nation will begin commemorating the life and service of the Queen with pomp and ceremony across the nation to mark her death.
A period of mourning has started and gun salutes will ring out in London and bells will toll across the country.
Churches, chapels and cathedrals have been encouraged by the Church of England to open for prayers or a special service for mourners.
A period of royal mourning will be observed from now until seven days after the Queen’s funeral, the date of which will be confirmed in due course, Buckingham Palace has said.
The Queen’s son and successor King Charles III spoke of his grief soon after Buckingham Palace announced the death of the 96-year-old monarch, who died “peacefully” on Thursday afternoon at Balmoral.
Charles will now turn his mind to matters of state as he begins his first full day as the nation’s new monarch having spent much of his 73 years in preparation for the role.
Tributes have flooded in from around the globe, hailing the Queen’s unwavering commitment to serving her country and the Commonwealth.
King Charles III acceded to the throne immediately on the death of Elizabeth II, at the age of 96 in the sanctuary of Balmoral Castle.
One of the first acts of the new monarch – whose chosen title was confirmed by prime minister Liz Truss – was to speak of his grief and highlight the “respect and deep affection” in which the Queen was “so widely held”.
World leaders, celebrities and ordinary people – gathered at the gates of Buckingham Palace, Balmoral and Windsor Castle – all paid tribute, with US president Joe Biden describing her as “a stateswoman of unmatched dignity”.
Liz Truss – just a few days into her role – heralded the late monarch’s “great legacy” outside Downing Street on Thursday as news of the end of the New Elizabethan Era became a reality.
“Queen Elizabeth II was the rock on which modern Britain was built. Our country has grown and flourished under her reign,” she said.
“Britain is the great country it is today because of her.”
The new King and Queen – Charles and Camilla – will return to London today, and the new monarch is expected to address the nation on television on Friday evening.
Gun salutes – one round for every year of the Queen’s life – will be fired in central London and the new monarch will hold his first audience with the Prime Minister.
The prime minster and senior ministers will attend a public service of remembrance at St Paul’s in central London.
On Saturday morning, an Accession Council – the formal proclamation of Charles as King – will take place at St James’s Palace in London.
The first public proclamation of the new sovereign will then be read in the open air from the Friary Court balcony at St James’s Palace by the Garter King of Arms.
Charles will hold audiences, and the media will be briefed by the Earl Marshal, who is in charge of the accession and the Queen’s funeral, on the coming days.
After the Queen’s health worsened, the royal family – including the Queen’s four children – Charles, the Princess of Royal, the Duke of York and the Earl of Wessex – and grandsons the Duke of Cambridge and the Duke of Sussex – cleared their diaries and rushed to be by her bedside on Thursday.
Royal doctors had recommended she remain under medical supervision, with the Palace issuing an unusually detailed update earlier in the day, saying royal doctors were concerned for her health.
The Duchess of Sussex, whose troubled relationship with the monarchy has long been documented, remained down south after initially planning to accompany Harry to Scotland.
The Duchess of Cornwall and Cambridge, as Kate’s title is now, stayed in Windsor – less than a 10-minute walk from Meghan’s Frogmore Cottage residence – with her children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis having had their first full day at school.
Behind the scenes, the long-held London Bridge plans for the Queen’s death are being rapidly put into action, setting out the next 11 days according to a strict timetable which will feature a lying in state and then the solemnity and grandeur of a state funeral.
The arrangements have a more complex factor due to the Queen’s death being in Scotland – and have triggered Operation Unicorn – the contingency plans in case of such an event.
Members of the royal family will be expected in the coming days to hold a poignant vigil around the Queen’s coffin in St Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh, and the Queen’s coffin will have to be transported by RAF plane back to London.
She is expected to lie in state in a few days’ time in London, with her funeral held in Westminster Abbey in central London, most likely on Monday September 19.
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