By Michael Holden and Gerhard Mey

BALMORAL, Scotland (Reuters) – Britain’s King Charles will deal with a nation in mourning on Friday following the dying of his mom and the nation’s figurehead, Queen Elizabeth, on the age of 96.

Charles https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/charles-britains-conflicted-new-monarch-2022-09-08/, who raced to be by the facet of the queen earlier than she handed away at her Scottish dwelling on Thursday, was resulting from journey again to London together with his spouse Camilla https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/rottweiler-queen-consort-camillas-rise-shadow-diana-2022-09-08/, now Queen Consort, earlier than assembly the prime minister and making a televised assertion.

The dying of the queen https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/obituary-elizabeth-queen-who-moved-with-changing-world-2022-09-08/, Britain’s longest-reigning monarch https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/life-queen-elizabeth-2022-09-08/ and a towering presence on the world stage for seven a long time, has drawn condolences from all over the world.

At first gentle in London, members of the general public continued laying flower exterior Buckingham Palace and billboards throughout town displayed messages of condolence. Newspapers ran front-page picture tributes to the queen.

On Thursday, 1000’s had gathered exterior the queen’s palace, the place the information was met with a shocked silence because the flag was lowered to half-mast.

Many described a way of shock on the dying of the one monarch most Britons have ever identified.

“She’s the particular person we have all the time appeared as much as,” a tearful retiree Christine West advised Reuters exterior the queen’s Windsor Fort dwelling to the west of London. “It is a unhappy day for us all”.

Charles, who mechanically turned monarch of the UK and the pinnacle of state of 14 different realms, together with Australia, Canada and New Zealand, stated the dying was a second of nice unhappiness for himself and his household.

“We mourn profoundly the passing of a cherished Sovereign and a much-loved mom. I do know her loss might be deeply felt all through the nation, the Realms and the Commonwealth, and by numerous folks all over the world,” the 73-year-old stated in a press release.

He’s anticipated to satisfy Prime Minister Liz Truss on Friday earlier than later addressing the nation. There may also be gun salutes.

Information that the queen’s well being was deteriorating emerged shortly after noon on Thursday when her medical doctors stated in a press release that she was underneath medical supervision, prompting her household to hurry to Scotland.

The queen had been affected by what Buckingham Palace had referred to as “episodic mobility issues” because the finish of final 12 months, forcing her to withdraw from almost all her public engagements. Her husband of 73 years, Prince Philip, died in 2021.

Her final public obligation got here solely on Tuesday, when she appointed Truss prime minister – the fifteenth of her reign.

“The dying of Her Majesty the Queen is a big shock to the nation and to the world,” Truss stated exterior her Downing Avenue workplace the place the flag, like these at royal palaces and authorities buildings throughout Britain, had been lowered.

“By thick and skinny, Queen Elizabeth II offered us with the soundness and the power that we wanted. She was the very spirit of Nice Britain – and that spirit will endure.”

SEVEN DECADE REIGN

The information shocked not solely folks in Britain, with condolences pouring in from leaders all over the world.

“Her legacy will loom giant within the pages of British historical past, and within the story of our world,” U.S. President Joe Biden stated in a press release.

Queen Elizabeth II, who was additionally the world’s oldest and longest-serving head of state, got here to the throne following the dying of her father King George VI on Feb. 6, 1952, when she was simply 25.

She was topped in June the next 12 months. The primary televised coronation was a foretaste of a brand new world wherein the lives of the royals had been to develop into more and more scrutinised by the media.

“I’ve in sincerity pledged myself to your service, as so lots of you’re pledged to mine. All through all my life and with all my coronary heart I shall try to be worthy of your belief,” she stated in a speech to her topics on her coronation day.

Elizabeth turned monarch at a time when Britain nonetheless retained a lot of its outdated empire with Winston Churchill her Britain’s prime minister, whereas Josef Stalin led the Soviet Union and the Korean Warfare was raging.

Bereft of its image of continuity and resilience, Britain begins its new period in grave financial disaster, marked by ructions with Europe and a populace disaffected by years of political strife and scandal.