Queen Elizabeth II, the United Kingdom’s longest-serving monarch, has passed away at Balmoral, at the age of 96, after governing for 70 years.
The queen’s family congregated at her Scottish estate after her health deteriorated and called for attention earlier on Thursday.
Queen Elizabeth II was betrothed in 1952 at a tender age and has experienced an enormous social change.
Following her demise, her eldest son, Charles the former Prince of Wales, will take over as the new King and lead the country in mourning as the head of the 14 Commonwealth realms.
Buckingham Palace has stated: “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.”
The Queen’s children traveled to Balmoral, near Aberdeen, after doctors placed the Queen under medical supervision.
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Prince William, her grandson is also present, with his brother, Prince Harry, on his way.
At Buckingham Palace in London, crowds who were awaiting information about the Queen’s condition began crying upon the news of her demise.
The Union flag on top of the palace lowered to half-mast at 18:30 BST.
The Queen was born Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor, in Mayfair, London, on 21 April 1926.
Queen Elizabeth II’s tenure as head of state lived through post-war severity, the transformation from empire to Commonwealth, the end of the Cold War, and the UK’s joining and exiting from the European Union.
The Queen’s reign spanned 15 prime ministers starting with Winston Churchill, born in 1874, and including Liz Truss, born 101 years later in 1975, and appointed by the Queen earlier this week.
During her tenure, She held weekly audiences with her prime minister throughout her reign.
It was anticipated by few that the young queen would become a monarch in December 1936, when her uncle, Edward VIII, step down from the throne to marry Wallis Simpson, a twice divorced American.
King George VI Elizabeth’s father became the king at the age of 10, and Lilibet as she was known in the family, became heir to the throne.
In three years a war spiraled between Britain and Nazi Germany, as Elizabeth and her younger sister, Princess Margaret, stayed at the t Windsor Castle despite suggestions that they are moved to Canada.
At 18, Elizabeth spent five months with a subsidiaryTerritorial Service, where she learned basic motor mechanics and driving skills.
“I began to understand the esprit de corps that flourishes in the face of adversity,” she recalled later.
During the war, she exchanged letters with her third cousin, Philip, Prince of Greece, who was serving in the Royal Navy.
Their romance blossomed and the couple married at Westminster Abbey on 20 November 1947, with the prince taking the title of Duke of Edinburgh.
She would later describe him as “my strength and stay” through 74 years of marriage, before his death in 2021, aged 99.
The Duke of Edinburgh was at the Queen’s side for more than six decades of reign, becoming the longest-serving consort in British history in 2009.
Their first son, Charles, was born in 1948, followed by Princess Anne, in 1950, Prince Andrew, in 1960, and Prince Edward, in 1964. Between them, they gave their parents eight grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.
Princess Elizabeth was in Kenya in 1952, representing the ailing King, when Philip broke the news that her father had died. She immediately returned to London as the new Queen.
“It was all a very sudden kind of taking on and making the best job you can,” she later recalled.
Elizabeth was crowned at Westminster Abbey on 2 June 1953, aged 27, in front of a then-record TV audience estimated at more than 20 million people.
The following decades would witness tremendous change, with the end of the British Empire overseas and the swinging ’60s sweeping away social norms at home.
