Death of Elizabeth II

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Elizabeth II, the Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms, the longest-living and longest-reigning British monarch, died at the age of 96 on 8 September 2022 at Balmoral Castle in Scotland. The official announcement came at 18:30 BST. Earlier in the day, doctors were concerned about her health and placed her under medical supervision.
Her death set in motion Operation London Bridge, a collection of highly specific plans including arrangements for her funeral, and Operation Unicorn, which set protocols for the Queen's death in Scotland.
Background
After being in good health for most of her elderly life, the Queen's health began to deteriorate after the death of her husband of 73 years, Prince Philip, in 2021. In October 2021, she began using a walking stick during public engagements. Following an overnight stay in hospital on 20 October, visits to Northern Ireland, the COP26 summit in Glasgow, and the 2021 National Service of Remembrance were cancelled on health grounds, including a sprained back.
In February 2022, during the COVID-19 pandemic in England, the Queen was one of several people at Windsor Castle to test positive for COVID-19. Her symptoms were described as mild and cold-like, with the Queen later commenting that the disease "does leave one very tired and exhausted". Given the health impacts of COVID-19 and long COVID are known to be more severe among older people, there were concerns for the Queen's health at the time; however, she was reportedly feeling well enough to resume her official duties by 1 March.
The Queen was present at the service of thanksgiving for Prince Philip at Westminster Abbey on 29 March, but was unable to attend the annual Commonwealth Day service that month or the Royal Maundy Service in April. She missed the State Opening of Parliament in May for the first time in 59 years (she did not attend in 1959 and 1963 as she was pregnant with Prince Andrew, Duke of York, and Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, respectively). In her absence, Parliament was opened by the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cambridge as Counsellors of State. The Prince of Wales, the heir apparent, gained more official responsibilities towards the end of the Queen's life and stood in for her at the State Opening of Parliament.
In June, the Queen did not attend a church service for her Platinum Jubilee; official sources mentioned her "discomfort" after standing during the military parade celebrating on the first day of celebrations. During the celebrations, the Queen was largely confined to balcony appearances, and she missed the National Service of Thanksgiving.
On 6 September, two days before her death, the Queen accepted the resignation of Boris Johnson and appointed Liz Truss to succeed him as Prime Minister at Balmoral Castle (where the Queen was on holiday) in a break with tradition; this was usually done at Buckingham Palace. On 7 September, she was scheduled to attend an online meeting of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom to swear in new ministers in , but it was announced that the meeting had been postponed after she was advised to rest by doctors.
Timeline
8 September
At approximately 12:30, Buckingham Palace publicly announced that the Queen was "under medical supervision" at Balmoral Castle after doctors expressed concern over her health. The statement read: The Queen's children along with her daughters-in-law, and Prince William and Prince Harry, travelled to Balmoral.
At around 12:40 BST, the BBC, the national broadcaster of the United Kingdom, cut away from regular programming on BBC One to continuously cover the Queen's condition, with all BBC news journalists and broadcasters dressed in black later in the afternoon. Special reports about her condition were run on other main television channels in the UK: ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5.
At 16:30, Prime Minister Liz Truss was informed of the Queen's death by cabinet secretary Simon Case.
At around 17:00, members of the royal family who had flown from RAF Northolt to Scotland arrived at Balmoral, including Prince William, Prince Andrew, Prince Edward and his wife, Sophie, Countess of Wessex.
The royal family's official Twitter account announced her death in a tweet timestamped 18:30 BST, stating:British television announcements of the Queen's death came shortly after, and included the aforementioned statement being read verbatim by news presenter Huw Edwards during a live broadcast across all BBC television channels (bar BBC Three and Four, who had programmes suspended following the announcement of the death, children's channels CBBC, who announced the news through their programme Newsround, and CBeebies, who were not discussing the news) after which the national anthem was played.
In accordance with the protocol implemented after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, the Union flag at Buckingham Palace was lowered to half-mast. It also flew at half-mast at 10 Downing Street and Balmoral Castle. Because the new monarch was already at Balmoral Castle when he became King, the Royal Standard of the United Kingdom was at the castle following his mother's death. The Royal Banner of Scotland was also lowered to half-mast at the Palace of Holyroodhouse,
9 September
King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla travelled from Balmoral to Buckingham Palace, where they greeted the crowd of mourners outside the gates. He then held an in-person audience with Prime Minister Liz Truss before paying tribute to his mother in a publicly broadcast message. The King, along with Princess Anne and Prince Edward, paid tribute to their mother in the BBC One special programme A Tribute to Her Majesty The Queen. At the Palace of Westminster, MPs gathered to read out their messages of condolences and tributes.
In Charles's first address as King, he declared a period of mourning that is expected to last and be observed by the royal family and members of the royal household until seven days after the Queen's state funeral. All flags at royal residences were ordered to be lowered to half-mast except for the Royal Standard which, in accordance with both long-standing protocol and the deceased Queen's wishes, will continue to fly at full mast whenever the King is in any of the residences. The UK government published guidance on details surrounding the national mourning period, stating that businesses, public service, sports fixtures and public venues were not obliged to shut.
Succession
Upon the Queen's death, her eldest son Charles, Prince of Wales, immediately acceded to the throne as King of the United Kingdom and fourteen other Commonwealth realms.
There had long been speculation regarding what regnal name the former Prince of Wales would take upon succeeding his mother. During her formal televised address outside 10 Downing Street, Prime Minister Truss made the first mention of the King's regnal name when she stated:
Clarence House confirmed the new King would be known as Charles III shortly after the Prime Minister's address. Buckingham Palace released the King's first official statement as monarch at 19:04 BST:
Most of Charles III's pre-accession titles merged with the Crown upon his mother's death, an exception being that of Duke of Cornwall which passed to his eldest son and the new heir apparent to the throne William, Duke of Cambridge. On 9 September, William and his wife Catherine were created Prince and Princess of Wales, succeeding William's now-reigning father and late mother.
The Accession Council will assemble on 10 September at St James's Palace to formally proclaim the accession of the new king. Although about seven hundred are eligible to attend this ceremony, due to the short notice the number in attendance is expected to be much lower. In addition to other formalities, the Council is expected to de jure confirm Charles III as the King's regnal name.
No dates have been announced for the King and Queen Consort's coronation or for the new Prince of Wales' investiture.
The Queen's body will be moved from Balmoral to the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh, before being placed at St Giles' Cathedral, where the public will be allowed to pay their respects. The coffin, draped in the Royal Standard and with the Imperial State Crown on top, will be taken to London and moved from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall in a military procession. Many others used social media to post condolences and tributes both to the Queen and to the British royal family. Floral tributes were later left outside Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, Sandringham House, Balmoral Castle, the Palace of Holyroodhouse, and Hillsborough Castle. Several black cab drivers lined The Mall with their lights on to pay tribute to the Queen. Numerous books of condolences were set up at libraries and council offices across the UK.
Flags at Parliament Hill in Ottawa and the Capitol Building and the White House in Washington, D.C. were flown at half-mast in her honour. The Empire State Building in New York City illuminated in purple and silver, the Eiffel Tower in Paris went dark at midnight, and the Sydney Opera House had an image of the Queen projected onto it. Billboards at Piccadilly Circus, the BT Tower and Times Square showed tributes to the Queen, as well as advertising screens on the side of bus stops across London. Many other landmarks across the world paid tributes to the death of the Elizabeth II.
The National Memorial Arboretum set up books of condolence and announced tributes would be paid to the Queen at a special reading at Millennium Chapel. Blackpool Illuminations were unlit as a sign of respect, and they will become unlit again on the night of the funeral. Blackpool Tower display the colours red, white and blue throughout the period of mourning.
The ceremony that was due to be held to mark the transitioning of Colchester from town to city status was cancelled. The Last Night of the Proms and the Mercury Prize were among the events that were called off, while the Royal Opera House announced that they would not go on with the opening night of one of their new productions and will not be operating on the day of the state funeral. Several unions responsible for organising the strikes by postal workers and rail staff announced that they would postpone their actions "out of respect for her service to the country and her family". The Trades Union Congress also cancelled their annual conference as a sign of respect. Numerous sporting events have been postponed or suspended from 8 September through at least 11 September, including all football fixtures across the Home Nations, and the second day of . Some events have gone on, but with a moment of silence observed before play, and all players wearing black armbands. Several rugby fixtures were postponed, with the exception of mini, junior and under-18 rugby matches, which will go ahead with a period of two minutes' silence. The St Leger Stakes, the Champagne Stakes and the Park Stakes, the Doncaster Cup and the Flying Childers Stakes were all postponed.
Various political leaders and heads of government sent messages of condolence. However, the South African radical far-left political party Economic Freedom Fighters announced that they would not mourn the Queen's death as "she never once acknowledged the atrocities her family inflicted on native people that Britain invaded across the world."

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