Buckingham Palace has confirmed the death of Queen Elizabeth II at the age of 96.
A statement from the Palace announced the news at 6.30pm on Thursday, September 8, as the royal family enters a period of mourning.
It reads: "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."
A statement from King Charles III, the Queen's eldest son, read: "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.
"During this period of mourning and change, my family and I will be comforted and sustained by our knowledge of the respect and deep affection in which The Queen was so widely held."
The Palace had previously confirmed that the late monarch was under medical supervision at Balmoral, after doctors became concerned for her health. Senior members of the royal family and royal household made their way to Balmoral on Thursday afternoon, soon after the Palace's announcement.
The announcement came just a couple of days after the Queen met with the new prime minister Liz Truss, who also made a statement outside Downing Street on Thursday evening.
She described the Queen's death as "a huge shock to the nation and the world" and said the late monarch was "a rock on which modern Britain was built".
"Her devotion to duty is an example to us all," Truss added, praising the Queen's "great legacy".
"Today the Crown passes, as it has done for more than a thousand years, to our new monarch, our new head of state, His Majesty King Charles III," the prime minister continued.
"With the King's family we mourn the loss of his mother and come together. We offer him our loyalty and devotion, just as his mother devoted so much to us for so long."
The leader of the opposition Sir Keir Starmer added: "Today, we mourn the passing of a remarkable sovereign. It is a deep, private loss for the Royal Family and all our thoughts are with them at this time. The nation shares in their grief."
Praising the queen's "life of service and devotion to our nation and the Commonwealth," he continued: "Above the clashes of politics, she stood not for what the nation fought over, but what it agreed upon.
"As Britain changed rapidly around her, this dedication became the still point of our turning world."
Born in 1926, Queen Elizabeth II ascended to the throne in February 1952 following the death of her father, George VI. Her oldest son Charles, formerly Prince of Wales, now becomes King Charles III of the United Kingdom and head of the Commonwealth.
Throughout the Queen's 70 years as the head of the British monarchy, she saw the country through political and social change and controversies, international crises and, more recently, the COVID-19 pandemic. She was the longest-lived and longest-serving British monarch.
Having been a public servant throughout her entire life, then-Princess Elizabeth took on her first public duties with the royal family during World War II as the country endured the Blitz, and later trained as a driver and mechanic with the armed forces.
In 1947, she went on her first overseas tour with her parents, making a famous speech on her 21st birthday in which she said: "I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service."
She would marry Philip Mountbatten (later Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh), a former prince of Denmark and Greece, in November 1947. The couple would remain devoted to one another for 73 years until Prince Philip's death in April 2021.
Queen Elizabeth II scaled back her public commitments in recent years due to a series of health complications. In June 2022, she officially celebrated her Platinum Jubilee, with a series of high-profile public events involving international celebrities such as Tom Cruise, Dame Helen Mirren, Craig David and Diana Ross.
The remarkable intrigue surrounding the royal family has seen Queen Elizabeth II memorably depicted both in film and in television dramas throughout her life.
Dame Helen Mirren won a Best Actress Oscar for playing the monarch in The Queen, a reimagining of the public outcry following the death of Elizabeth II's former daughter-in-law Princess Diana in a 1997 car crash.
Mirren would later receive an Olivier Award for playing Elizabeth II again in The Audience, a West End stage play fictionalising the weekly meetings between the Queen and various British Prime Ministers between 1952 and 2013.
She shared a short tribute to the late Queen on social media, writing: "I am proud to be an Elizabethan. We mourn a woman who, with or without the crown, was the epitome of nobility."
More recently, three actresses have portrayed Queen Elizabeth II – Verity Russell, Claire Foy, Olivia Colman – in Netflix prestige drama series The Crown, a big-budget drama inspired by the lives of the royals. Imelda Staunton is taking over the role for the series' fifth and sixth seasons.
Other notable dramatic portrayals of The Queen include Prunella Scales in BBC drama A Question of Attribution, Emilia Fox and Samantha Bond in 2009 docudrama The Queen, Emma Thompson in a Playhouse Presents episode, and Kristin Scott Thomas in a re-staging of The Audience.
In 2012, The Queen had her own iconic theatrical moment when she appeared with Daniel Craig (who was playing James Bond) in an opening sketch for the London Olympic Games.
For her Platinum Jubilee, she made a surprise appearance alongside Paddington Bear in a comedy sketch to open the Platinum Party at the Palace, as they bonded over afternoon tea – and a shared love of marmalade sandwiches.
Elizabeth II is survived by her four children – King Charles III, plus Anne, Princess Royal, Prince Andrew, Duke of York, and Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex – as well as eight grandchildren, including Princes William and Harry, and 12 great-grandchildren.
