Queen Elizabeth II Has Died At The Age Of 96

Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom and 14 other sovereign countries and head of the Commonwealth, has died at age 96, Buckingham Palace has announced. 

A statement issued by the palace said the Queen “died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon,” on Sept. 8.

Queen Elizabeth was born in 1926 and started her reign in 1952 after the death of her father King George VI, with her coronation taking place in 1953. This makes her the longest-lived and longest-reigning British monarch and the oldest and longest-serving incumbent head of state.

“The King and The Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow,” read the rest of the statement. Balmoral Castle is located in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and is the monarch's summer home.

At 12:20 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 8, it was announced by Buckingham Palace that the royal doctors were concerned for the Queen's health and she was under "medical supervision."

Senior royals, including Prince William and Prince Harry, and the heir apparent Prince Charles traveled to be by her side.

Just two days before her death, The Queen met with the newest prime minister of the U.K., Liz Truss, on Tuesday, Sept. 6. Truss is the 15th prime minister since the start of Queen Elizabeth's reign.

There's a meticulous list of procedures and protocols that's existed for years as a script to follow in the event of the queen's death. It's been called the “London Bridge” plan. This is because it dictated the prime minister be told of the queen’s passing on secure lines, and that civil servants say “London Bridge is down,” as The Guardian reported in 2017.

President Joe Biden said Thursday that Queen Elizabeth was a “steadying presence and a source of comfort and pride for generations of Britons.” He added that the queen’s “legacy will loom large in the pages of British history, and in the story of our world."

Charles, Prince of Wales —  now King Charles III — is the heir to the throne, as he is Queen Elizabeth's oldest child. The crown was immediately passed on to him Thursday.