Queen Elizabeth II, the United Kingdom’s longest-serving monarch, died on Thursday afternoon at Balmoral aged 96, after reigning for 70 years.

Buckingham Palace announced the Queen’s death in a statement. It 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.

At Buckingham Palace in London, crowds that were awaiting updates on the Queen’s condition began crying as they heard of her death.

The Queen was born Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor, in Mayfair, London, on 21 April 1926.

She married her third cousin, Philip, Prince of Greece, at Westminster Abbey on 20 November 1947, with the prince taking the title of Duke of Edinburgh.

She would later describe him as “my strength and stay” through 74 years of marriage, before his death in 2021, aged 99.

The Queen’s reign spanned 15 prime ministers starting with Winston Churchill, born in 1874, and including Liz Truss, born 101 years later in 1975, and appointed by the Queen earlier this week.

She held weekly audiences with her prime minister throughout her reign.- BBC