Queen Elizabeth II, the longest-serving ruler in English history and an icon immediately unmistakable to billions of people all over the world, has passed on at 96, Buckingham Royal palace declared on Thursday.
The Royal Family Channel reported through its verified twitter handle @RoyalFamilyITNP that the death of the Queen has triggered many changes in the roles and titles of mostly the senior members of the Royal Family, notably Prince Charles who immediately ascended the Royal Throne as King.
The death of Queen Elizabeth II has triggered changes in the roles and titles of other senior members of the Royal Family. Most notably, the Queen's eldest son is now King Charles III. pic.twitter.com/AFU5ChOz1N
— The Royal Family Channel (@RoyalFamilyITNP) September 9, 2022
The oldest of her four children, Charles, Prince of Wales, who at 73 is the most oldest heir apparent in English history, becomes king right away.
The Queen’s demise came after the castle reported on Thursday that specialists were “worried” for her wellbeing and suggested she remained under clinical watch.
Every one of her children— Charles, Princess Anne, 72, Prince Andrew, 62, and Prince Edward, 58, rushed to her Scottish Highland retreat, Balmoral.
They were joined by Charles’ children, Prince William, and his estranged brother Prince Harry.
In case you are not aware
- Two days earlier the Queen approved the appointment of Liz Truss as the fifteenth Prime Minister of her reign and was seen grinning in photos yet looking weak and using a walking stick. One photograph of the meeting sparked alarm, showing a deep purple bruise on the monarch’s right hand.
- Queen Elizabeth II came to the throne aged just 25 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. Her 70-year reign straddled two centuries of seismic social, political and technological upheaval. The last vestiges of Britain’s vast empire crumbled. At home, Brexit shook the foundations of her kingdom, and her family endured a series of scandals.
- She was also head of the 56-nation Commonwealth, which takes in a quarter of humanity, and supreme governor of the Church of England, the mother church of the worldwide Anglican communion.
But questions will be asked about whether the golden age of the British monarchy has now passed, how an ancient institution can remain viable in the modern era and whether Charles will command the same respect or reign in his mother’s shadow.
