The death of the 96-year-old longest reigning British monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, Thursday, has thrown Britain and the entire world into mourning with world leaders sending their condolence messages and paying tributes to the deceased.
In his first statement as king, Britain’s new king, King Charles III marked the death of his “beloved Mother, Her Majesty The Queen” as a “moment of the greatest sadness” for his family and the world.
“We mourn the passing of a cherished Sovereign and a much-loved Mother profoundly.
“I know her loss will be deeply felt throughout the country, the Realms and the Commonwealth, and by countless people around the world,” he said. “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”, Charles said.
New British Prime Minister, Liv Truss says the country is ‘devastated’
Truss, who only became British prime minister Tuesday, has said the queen was “the rock on which our country was built.”
In a speech outside No. 10 Downing St. shortly after the news broke, Truss said that everyone was “devastated” at the news, which was a “huge shock to the nation and the world.”
“Britain is the great country it is today because of her,” Truss added. “Her devotion to duty is an example to us all.”
“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,” she said. Britain would “offer him our loyalty and devotion, just as his mother devoted so much to us for so long,” the prime minister said, ending the statement by saying, “God save the King.” She said Britain has ‘grown and flourished’ under Queen Elizabeth’s reign.
Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland where Queen Elizabeth II died this afternoon, said the monarch’s death is a “profoundly sad moment” for the nation, the Commonwealth and the world.
“On behalf of the people of Scotland, I convey my deepest condolences to The King and the Royal Family,” Sturgeon said in a tweet.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin, the head of the Irish government, said Queen Elizabeth’s “support for the Good Friday Agreement, reconciliation and mutual understanding was critical to advancing positive relations on these islands.”
“I hope that in this time of mourning the British people and her family can draw comfort and be proud of the enormous contribution, which her majesty made in fostering and strengthening the British-Irish relationship,” he said, later fondly recalling her May 2011 visit to Ireland in his remarks.
The Good Friday Agreement helped bring to a close decade of political violence in Northern Ireland, often referred to as The Troubles.
President Joe Biden also mourned the death of Queen Elizabeth II, calling her “a stateswoman of unmatched dignity and constancy who deepened the bedrock Alliance between the United Kingdom and the United States.”
In a statement, Biden and the First Lady wrote that “Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was more than a monarch. She defined an era.” The American flag is lowered to half-staff over the U.S. Capitol
Queen Elizabeth II met with 13 sitting U.S. presidents during her lifetime, kindling a string of cordial relationships that helped strengthen the ties between the two nations.
Harry Truman said she “captured the hearts” of the American public, while Barack Obama called her “truly one of my favourite people.”
Lyndon Johnson is the only one among the last 14 presidents whom she didn’t meet.
French President, Emmanuel Macron praised the queen on Twitter in the moments after her death as “a friend of France, a kind-hearted queen who has left a lasting impression on her country and her century.”
Former PM Boris Johnson described her death as ‘Our country’s saddest day.’
Boris Johnson, who left office as British prime minister earlier this week, said the queen’s death has left an “ache” in everyone’s hearts and a “deep and personal sense of loss” that is “far more intense, perhaps, than we expected.”
“This is our country’s saddest day,” he said in a statement Thursday. “In these first grim moments since the news, I know that millions and millions of people have been pausing whatever they have been doing, to think about Queen Elizabeth, about the bright and shining light that has finally gone out,” Johnson said.
“She seemed so timeless and wonderful that I am afraid we had come to believe, like children, that she would just go on and on,” he said.
It would be recalled that the queen had been under medical supervision at Balmoral, her castle in Scotland. Her death this afternoon is being mourned in Britain and across the world.
Large crowds are expected to gather outside Buckingham Palace in central London, while tributes pour in from across the country and the world. Fears had been growing as the royal family rushed to Scotland to be by the queen’s side after Buckingham Palace said she had been placed under medical supervision.
Few Britons have known another monarch, so the end of Elizabeth’s reign after more than 70 years will thrust the royal family and Britain into days of mourning and an uncertain new era.
