Queen Elizabeth II dies - follow the latest news as the world mourns
The gates of Buckingham Palace were a sombre place of mourning on Friday as Britain awoke to life without the late Queen Elizabeth II, who died on Thursday at the age of 96.
Mourners arrived under grey skies to leave flowers and handwritten tributes, see the noticeboard announcing the queen’s death and witness a watershed moment in British history.
“I feel so honoured that we’re here for this moment,” Jamin Sylvada, 49, a French-born visitor from America who arrived in London the day the queen died, told The National at the palace railings.
“She’s always been part of my life. She was so graceful and such a good woman throughout all these years.”
An anxious crowd had formed on Thursday afternoon as news filtered through that the queen was gravely unwell, before two footmen emerged from the palace to pin up the notice announcing her death at the Balmoral estate in Scotland.
The news had faster ways to travel in the social media age, but the black-framed notice and the lowering of the Union flag were part of the solemn theatre of the occasion, a changing of the guard not seen for 70 years.
Some mourners arrived on Friday dressed in black and carrying written tributes they had prepared, while others passed by on bicycles or in running gear, stopping to observe the solemn scene.
Many people took pictures of the flowers, the noticeboard and the flagpole, while others comforted each other or simply watched in silence from Queen Victoria’s statue and absorbed the weight of what had happened.
Most British people have never known life without the queen, who marked 70 years on the throne this summer, a reign unsurpassed in the millennium-old history of the monarchy.
So many floral tributes were expected at the palace that a sign was put up saying they would be moved after 12 hours to the adjacent Green Park, freeing up space for the next cascade of mourners.
Alongside the flowers there were candles, British flags, photos of the queen and messages remembering her as a sovereign and matriarch, with one saying: “Thank you, ma’am, for everything.”
Another mourner wrote that the queen was “loved by everyone… will be missed by everyone”.
As the crowd swelled, phone signals started to falter and nervous officials put out a warning that trains were likely to be busy and roads closed because of the outpouring of public grief.
Britain in mourning after Queen Elizabeth's death - in pictures
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A well-wisher kisses the hand of King Charles III outside Buckingham Palace after the death on Thursday of Queen Elizabeth II. King Charles, who spent much of his 73 years preparing for the role, on Friday planned to meet the prime minister and address a nation grieving the only British monarch most of the world had known. He takes the throne in an era of uncertainty for his country and the monarchy itself. AP -
King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla arriving at Buckingham Palace, London, after travelling from Balmoral following the death of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday. PA -
King Charles and the queen consort outside Buckingham Palace. PA -
King Charles and the queen consort view tributes left outside Buckingham Palace, London, after the death of Queen Elizabeth on Thursday. PA -
King Charles greets well-wishers outside Buckingham Palace. AP -
King Charles and the queen consort read messages left by mourners at Buckingham Palace in London. Queen Elizabeth II, Britain's longest-reigning monarch and a rock of stability through much of a turbulent century, died on Thursday, after 70 years on the throne. She was 96. AP -
King Charles greets well-wishers at Buckingham Palace after the death on Thursday of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II. AP -
King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla view tributes left outside Buckingham Palace after the death of Queen Elizabeth II. PA -
Outside Buckingham Palace on the first day of public mourning after the death of Queen Elizabeth II. The queen's death at the age of 96 marks the start of a tumultuous 10 days for the UK in which a queen is buried, a nation will mourn its longest-reigning monarch, and a new king is proclaimed. Bloomberg -
King Charles during a walkabout to view tributes left outside Buckingham Palace. PA -
King Charles outside Buckingham Palace on Friday. AP -
King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla surrounded by crowds of well-wishers in London. Reuters -
The car carrying King Charles and the queen consort arrives at Buckingham Palace with the Union Flag at half mast. Getty Images -
People gather at the Queen Victoria Memorial opposite Buckingham Palace on Thursday night after the death of Queen Elizabeth II. Reuters -
People gather at the Queen Victoria Memorial opposite Buckingham Palace after the death of Queen Elizabeth II. PA -
Mourners gather outside Buckingham Palace on Thursday night. PA -
Tributes and candles left outside Buckingham Palace in London after the queen's death was announced. PA -
Police officers stand among floral tributes left outside Buckingham Palace. PA -
A member of the royal household staff posts a notice on the gates of Buckingham Palace announcing the death of Queen Elizabeth. AFP -
Royal follower John Loughrey, wearing a Union Jack hat, photographs the official announcement of the queen's death. EPA -
Mourners outside Buckingham Palace. Reuters -
A man with a Union flag umbrella shelters from the rain near the Queen Victoria Memorial. AFP -
Mourners on the Queen Victoria Memorial outside Buckingham Palace. PA -
The crowds outside Buckingham Palace on Thursday night. PA -
Mourners at the vigil outside Buckingham Palace. PA -
Mourners at the vigil outside Buckingham Palace. PA -
Londoners walk down The Mall that leads to Buckingham Palace on Thursday night. PA -
Taxis lined up along The Mall leading to Buckingham Palace in London after the announcement of the death of Queen Elizabeth. PA -
The advertising screens in Piccadilly Circus in London mark the death of the queen. Getty -
An image of Queen Elizabeth II is displayed on The BT Tower in London. Getty -
A bus stop on Tottenham Court road in London displays an image of the queen. Getty -
Mourners gather outside Windsor Castle, Berkshire. PA -
Flowers are left under the Queen Victoria statue outside Windsor Castle. PA -
Candles and flowers form a makeshift memorial at the Queen Victoria statue outside Windsor Castle. PA -
People lay floral tributes outside Balmoral Castle, Scotland, on Thursday night. EPA -
People lay floral tributes outside Balmoral Castle, Scotland, Britain, 08 September 2022. EPA -
People pay their respects at the gate of Sandringham House in Norfolk. PA -
People pay their respects at the gate of Sandringham House in Norfolk. PA
The grief and solemnity were not confined to the queen’s subjects. People swapped stories in French and German outside the palace gates, and visitors who happened to be in Britain came to witness a moment of history.
“Everyone has a mother, everyone has grandmothers, and that’s part of the loss that I feel for the country too,” said Ms Sylvada’s partner Tom Schroeder, 64, an American whose grandmother was from Scotland.
“You can just feel the weightiness and the sombre mood. It’s had a big effect on me.”
The palace, the monarch’s official residence since 1837, was awaiting the arrival of the new King Charles III, who took the throne at the moment of his mother’s death but has days of formal ceremonies ahead of him.
It was just the start of a 10-day mourning period, carefully planned for years in what was code-named Operation London Bridge – the blueprint for a day that everybody knew would come but still marked a deep incision in history.
Once the tributes are paid in parliament and the books of condolences are filled with memories, the mourning will culminate in a funeral at Westminster Abbey and the queen’s burial beside her husband Prince Philip.
