Queen Elizabeth II, the longest-serving monarch in British history and an icon instantly recognizable to billions of people around the world has died aged 96, according to Buckingham Palace.
This is coming a few hours after the palace in a statement said that doctors placed her on medical supervision due to concerns over her health.
Her death was confirmed in a statement issued by Buckingham Palace, saying that the Queen died peacefully.
In a statement, Buckingham Palace said: “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.”
Flags on landmark buildings in Britain were being lowered as a period of official mourning was announced.
- As Queen of the UK and 14 other realms, and head of the 54-nation Commonwealth, Elizabeth II was easily the world’s most recognisable head of state during an extraordinarily long reign
- Elizabeth, whose rule spanned 7 decades, ascended to the throne in 1952 on the death of her father King George VI. She oversaw the last throes of the British Empire, weathered global upheaval, and domestic scandal, and dramatically modernized monarchy.
- Coming to the throne at the age of 25, she successfully steered the monarchy through decades of turbulent change, with her personal popularity providing ballast during the institution’s more difficult times.
- She came in 1952 in the aftermath of World War II, joining a world stage dominated by political figures from China’s Mao Zedong to Soviet leader Joseph Stalin and US president Dwight D. Eisenhower.
- Elizabeth’s reign covered a period of massive social, economic, technological and political change that saw to the transformation of the once-global British Empire into a Commonwealth of 52 independent nations headed by the queen, and the country’s entrance into and exit from the European Union.
- Fifteen prime ministers served under Elizabeth — from Winston Churchill on her accession to the throne in 1952 to Liz Truss, who was sworn in by the frail queen only two days before the monarch’s death was announced