Bells tolled across the UK yesterday and 96-gun salutes were fired in London’s Hyde Park, one each for every year of the life of Queen Elizabeth II, who passed away at the British royal family’s summer retreat in Scotland on Thursday afternoon.
Her son, Charles, who became King Charles III with her passing, early yesterday flew back to London from Balmoral Castle.
The queen’s death marked the start of tumultuous 10 days for the UK, which is to see her buried, Britons mourn their longest-reigning monarch and Charles as the new king formally proclaimed.
Photo: REUTERS
Within hours, Charles, the eldest of Elizabeth’s four children, was formally proclaimed king in a ceremony dating back hundreds of years. At 73, he is the oldest person to accede to the throne in British history.
On his first full day of duties, Charles was expected to meet British Prime Minister Liz Truss, appointed just this week.
In the evening, he was to deliver a speech to the kingdom as 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.
Everyday politics was put on hold, with lawmakers paying tribute to the monarch in parliament over two days, beginning with a special session where Truss said the queen’s death has caused a “heartfelt outpouring of grief.”
She called the monarch “the nation’s greatest diplomat” and said her devotion to duty was an example to everyone.
When the queen appointed her, “she generously shared with me her deep experience of government, even in those last days,” Truss said.
Meanwhile, many sporting and cultural events were canceled as a mark of respect, and some businesses shut their doors.
The Bank of England postponed its meeting by a week.
Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby said the queen’s death marked an “enormous shift” for Britain and the world.
“A part of our lives we’ve taken for granted as being permanent is no longer there,” he said.
However, while Elizabeth’s death portends a monumental shift, day-to-day life in Britain went on yesterday, with children in school and adults at work and facing concerns about rising inflation.
Elizabeth was Britain’s longest-reigning monarch and a symbol of constancy in a turbulent era that saw the decline of the British empire and disarray in her own family.
Members of the royal family had rushed to her side at the family’s summer residence in Balmoral after her health took a turn for the worse.
Truss and other senior ministers were later yesterday expected to attend a remembrance service at St Paul’s Cathedral in London.
Charles is to be formally proclaimed king at a special ceremony today.
After a vigil in Edinburgh, the queen’s coffin is to be taken to London, and she is to lie in state for several days before her funeral in Westminster Abbey.
As the second Elizabethan era came to a close, the BBC played the national anthem, God Save the Queen, over a portrait of the monarch in full regalia as her death was announced.
The flag over Buckingham Palace was lowered to half-staff.
In one of the many shifts to come, the anthem played yesterday was God Save the King.
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