Queen Elizabeth II, who ruled the United Kingdom for the longest period of time and served as its symbol for seven decades, passed away on Thursday at the age of 96 at Balmoral, Scotland.
The Queen passed away peacefully this afternoon at Balmoral, according to a statement from Buckingham Palace. The King and the Queen Consort will spend this evening and tomorrow in Balmoral before flying back to London.
Charles, Elizabeth's II 73-year-old oldest son, automatically ascends to the throne of the United Kingdom and 14 other nations, including Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. Camilla, his wife, becomes the Queen Consort. The queen's family hurried to be by her side at her Scottish home, Balmoral, after learning that her health was deteriorating just after midday on Thursday when her doctors confirmed she was under medical supervision.
Since the end of last year, the queen had been experiencing what Buckingham Palace has referred to as "episodic mobility issues," which had forced her to cancel almost all of her public appearances.
Only on Tuesday did she make her final public appearance when she named Liz Truss as her 15th premier as prime minister.
Flags throughout all of London's governmental structures and palaces were flown at half-staff.
When her father King George VI passed away on February 6, 1952, Queen Elizabeth II, who was also the world's oldest and longest-serving head of state, ascended to the throne at the age of barely 25.
CROWNED
In June of the following year, she was crowned. The first broadcast coronation served as a preview of a new era in which the media would increasingly scrutinize the lives of the royal family. She addressed her subjects on the day of her coronation, saying, "I have sincerely devoted myself to your service, as so many of you are pledged to mine. I shall endeavor throughout my life and with all my heart to be worthy of your confidence."
When Elizabeth became king, a sizable portion of Britain's former dominion remained. It was recovering from the effects of World War Two, but food restriction and the dominance of class and privilege remained.
At the time, the Korean War was raging, Josef Stalin was in charge of the Soviet Union, and Winston Churchill was the prime minister of Britain.
Elizabeth experienced significant social upheaval and political transformation both domestically and internationally in the decades that followed. The struggles of her own family were played out in full view of the world, especially Charles and his late first wife Diana's divorce.
Elizabeth strove to modernize the historic institution of monarchy while continuing to serve as a steadfast representation of stability and continuity for Britons amid a period of relative national economic collapse.
In a 2012 documentary, her grandson Prince William, who is now heir to the throne, remarked, "She has managed to modernize and evolve the monarchy like no other." According to opinion surveys, Charles does not have close to the same amount of support, and it has been speculated that the loss of Elizabeth may lead to an increase in republican feeling, particularly in other spheres.
I don't know if it's an exaggeration to assume there will be some type of virtually national nervous breakdown, but I think it will be a great shock to everyone, far more than they realize, according to royal historian Hugo Vickers.
She was unlikely to have a rival, he claimed.
If we lived for a thousand years, we probably wouldn't see anything just like it again.
At the time of her death, the queen was also the head of state for Australia, the Bahamas, Belize, Canada, Grenada, Jamaica, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Tuvalu, the Solomon Islands, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Antigua and Barbuda in addition to the United Kingdom.