Queen Elizabeth II has died, Charles is King

Queen Elizabeth II (April 21, 1926 to Sept 8, 2022).Photo courtesy of the Royal Family Twitter account.

LONDON, Sept 8 – The world’s second longest reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth II died on Thursday, Sept 8, at the age of 96, local media here reported here today.

A statement in the official website of the Royal Family said the Queen died peacefully in Balmoral Thursday afternoon. An announcement on the royal family website said the King (Charles) and The Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral Thursday evening and return to London on Friday.

The new Prime Minister of UK Liz Truss in her statement published on the UK government site said “we are all devastated by the news we have just heard from Balmoral.

“The death of Her Majesty The Queen is a huge shock to the nation and to the world. Queen Elizabeth II was the rock on which modern Britain was built.

“Our country has grown and flourished under her reign. Britain is the great country it is today because of her.”

Truss also spoke of the Queen championing the development of the Commonwealth – from a small group of seven countries to a family of 56 nations spanning every continent of the world.

“Through thick and thin, Queen Elizabeth II provided us with the stability and the strength that we needed. She was the very spirit of Great Britain – and that spirit will endure.

“It is a day of great loss, but Queen Elizabeth II leaves a great legacy.

“Today the Crown passes – as it is 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.”

Meanwhile, columnist Lakshmi Priya said she received the news Thursday evening.

“People are quite sad here. While there was news earlier that members of the royal family had gathered at the Balmoral Castle in Scotland (the Queen’s summer retreat), the confirmation of her passing came later. It is already late evening here and most people have returned home after work. We are tuning into the local television stations for updates on what is going to happen for the next few days.

“Right now, what we can hear is police siren blasting near where we are staying and we expect there will be more police out in the streets to keep a check on things. Announcement of the mourning period or when and where the people would be able to pay their last respects to her should be coming in soon.”

–WE