By Aliyah Siddiqui
International Editor
Queen Elizabeth II died on Sept. 8, marking the end of her seventy-year reign in the United Kingdom. Her son, King Charles III, has taken over the monarchy.
Earlier on Thursday, the queen was placed under medical supervision due to health concerns in Balmoral Castle in the Scottish Highlands. According to ABC, members of the royal family, including her four children and Prince William, traveled to the estate before she passed. Prince Harry is currently traveling to the United Kingdom to join his family.
Following the queen’s passing, King Charles released a statement grieving the death of his mother.
“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,” the king said in the statement. “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.”
Other world leaders have also expressed their condolences to the late queen, including President of the United States Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Liz Truss.
“She defined an era,” Biden said in a statement. “In a world of constant change, she was a steadying presence and a source of comfort and pride for generations of Britons, including many who have never known their country without her.”
Truss echoed Biden’s sentiment, calling the queen the “rock on which modern Britain was built.” Truss also reaffirmed the United Kingdom’s loyalty to the new monarch.
“With the king's family, we mourn the loss of his mother. And as we mourn, we must come together as a people to support him to help him bear the awesome responsibility that he now carries for us all,” Truss said. “We offer him our loyalty and devotion, just as his mother devoted so much to so many for so long.”
Since her coronation in 1953, the queen experienced major shifts in both the country and the world. According to the New York Times, Elizabeth remained a steadfast, reassuring figure in the lives of British citizens, from making radio broadcasts to British children during World War II to releasing a televised address during the pandemic. Her popularity remained constant throughout the years, despite the various scandals the royal family became embroiled in.
The queen’s funeral, which had been planned years earlier, is outlined in a plan named the “London Bridge.” The ten-day funeral ceremony will include gun salutes and bell tolls as the queen’s body moves to Edinburgh, Buckingham Palace and Westminster Hall. She will finally be laid to rest at Windsor, where British royalty have been buried for centuries.
