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UK: King Charles III Leads Tributes to ‘Cherished’ Queen

MASAHUDU ANKIILU

    • Some events called off following Queen’s death

      Following news of the death of the Queen, London’s famous Royal Albert Hall said that it would not be going ahead with Prom 71 tomorrow, or the Last Night of the Proms on Saturday.

      Meanwhile, the Mercury Music Prize ceremony that was due to take place in London tonight was postponed.

      A number of sporting fixtures have also been cancelled or postponed. Friday’s play in the cricket Test match between England and South Africa has been called off. The second day of the PGA Championship on Friday will also not take place.

      Meanwhile, two games in the English Football League and one in the Scottish Championship have been postponed. And the sixth stage of the Tour of Britain on Friday will also not take place.

      Formula 1 is planning a minute’s silence prior to tomorrow’s practice session for the Italian Grand Prix.

      A silence will also take place at the US Open tennis championship in New York ahead of the first women’s semi-final match between Ons Jabeur and Caroline Garcia.

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      London taxi drivers line up in front of Buckingham Palace

      Some 50 London Black cab drivers have lined The Mall – the main road leading to Buckingham Palace – as a mark of respect to Queen Elizabeth II.

      Many drivers started to park up as soon as they heard about the Queen’s death on Thursday evening.

      One driver, Michael Ackerman, said he was there because the Queen was “our constant”.

      Ackerman, who has been a Black cab driver for 26 years, said “Liz is a London girl… she’s one of your own, she’s one of ours”.

      Landmarks lit up to remember the Queen

    • Some of the world’s most famous buildings are lit up to pay tribute to Queen Elizabeth as people around the globe mourn her death.

      Image caption: A tribute to the Queen is displayed the screen of the Nasdaq MarketSite billboard, in Times Square, in New York
      Copyright: @EmpireStateBldg
      Image caption: Meanwhile, the Empire State Building says its tower lights will shine in purple and sparkle in silver in honour of Her Majesty
      Image caption: And a portrait of the Queen has been hung outside the British embassy in Paris, France

      Oscar winner Mirren ‘proud to be an Elizabethan’

      Image caption: Dame Helen Mirren and Sir David Attenborough meeting the Queen in 2014

      Actress Dame Helen Mirren, who won an Oscar for playing the monarch in the 2006 film The Queen, wrote that she was “proud to be an Elizabethan”, and that Elizabeth II was “the epitome of nobility”.

      The film’s writer Peter Morgan went on to create Netflix’s royal drama The Crown, which has been dramatising the story of her reign.

      He said in a statement to US website Deadline that his show is “a love letter to her” and “I expect we will stop filming out of respect”.

      Other tributes have been paid by cultural figures including composer Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber, who wrote that the Queen had “been the constant anchor of not just Britain and her beloved Commonwealth, but an inspiration to the world for her lifetime of service”.

      Actor Stephen Fry summed up the reactions of many on hearing the news.

      As well as meeting virtually all of Britain’s major entertainment figures over the years, the Queen met some fictional ones too – including Paddington Bear, in a heartwarming comedy sketch for her Platinum Jubilee in June.

      Paddington again managed to capture the mood of the nation in his tribute on social media.

      Prime Minister Liz Truss’s speech in full

      Speaking outside Downing Street earlier today, PM Liz Truss said Queen Elizabeth left a “great legacy”.

      She reflected on being appointed as PM by the Queen on Tuesday, paying tribute to the monarch’s dedication and commitment to her constitutional duties.

      Quote Message: In the difficult days ahead we will come together with our friends across the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth and the world to celebrate her extraordinary lifetime of service.” from Liz Truss UK Prime Minister

      The Queen and Prince Philip: A 74-year partnership

    • Copyright: Mirrorpix via Getty Images

      The Queen married Prince Philip in 1947, and he accompanied her for almost her entire reign, until his death in April 2021.

      Shortly before their wedding, Prince Philip wrote to the Queen Mother saying he had “fallen in love completely and unreservedly” with the then Princess Elizabeth, who was five years younger.

      It was a partnership that would last nearly eight decades.

      At a speech given at a celebration to mark the couple’s golden wedding anniversary, the Queen paid tribute to her husband, the longest-serving royal consort in British history.

      “He is someone who doesn’t take easily to compliments, but he has quite simply been my strength and stay all these years,” she said.

      Prince Philip believed his job, as he told his biographer, was “to ensure the Queen can reign”.

      Share your tributes to the Queen

      BBC News wants to hear your tributes, reflections and memories after the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

      We’ll be including these in special commemorative coverage on our website.

      Whether you or your relatives remember the coronation in 1953, you met the Queen, or you held a street party earlier this summer for her Platinum Jubilee, we want you to share your special moments with us.

      Or you might just want to pay tribute to the UK’s longest-reigning monarch.

      MPs to pay tribute to the Queen tomorrow

      Copyright: PA Media

      MPs will have an opportunity to pay tribute to the Queen in the House of Commons tomorrow.

      They will sit from midday in a session that’s due to last until 22:00.

      There’ll also be a rare Saturday sitting this weekend, where senior MPs will take the oath to King Charles III from 14:00.

      Afterwards tributes will continue again until 22:00.

      A life of service, and hundreds of public engagements every year

      The Queen ruled for longer than any other monarch in British history. She carried out hundreds of official engagements annually – with more than 400 in some years.

      These included hosting heads of state in the UK, opening new sessions of Parliament, presenting citizens with awards and attending official ceremonies such as Trooping the Colour, her official birthday parade.

      She also travelled more widely than any other monarch – visiting more than 120 countries – and was patron of more than 600 charities and organisations.

      ‘Admired for her grace, dignity and dedication’ – UN chief

      Among the international figures paying tributes to Queen Elizabeth II, is UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

      He says Queen Elizabeth II was “widely admired for her grace, dignity, and dedication around the world”.

      “She was a reassuring presence throughout decades of sweeping change”, Guterres adds.

      Quote Message: The world will long remember her devotion and leadership.

      Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky shared his “deep sadness”.

      Quote Message: On behalf of the people, we extend sincere condolences to the Royal Family, the entire United Kingdom and the Commonwealth over this irreparable loss. Our thoughts and prayers are with you.”

      Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg echoed President Zelensky’s words.

      Quote Message: Over more than 70 years, she exemplified selfless leadership and public service. My deepest condolences to the Royal Family, to our Nato allies the United Kingdom and Canada, and to the people of the Commonwealth.

      New King expected to address the nation tomorrow

      The next few days will see preparations for the Queen’s funeral and the transition to the reign of King Charles III.

      On Friday this is likely to include a gun salute, King Charles and Queen Camilla returning to London and the new King holding his first audience with the new Prime Minister Liz Truss.

      An address to the nation is expected from King Charles.

      The Accession Council, the ceremonial gathering for the official proclamation of the new King, is expected to be held on Saturday.

      The choreography of these national events, alongside the public mourning, will begin to be unfurled.

    • Balmoral was a fitting place for the Queen to end her days

      Copyright: Getty Images
      Image caption: Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh with their children, Prince Andrew, Princess Anne, and Charles, Prince of Wales

      The sun – shrouded in thick cloud – set on Royal Deeside shortly before 8pm, marking the end of a day when the world changed.

      Minutes later Prince Harry swept into the Balmoral Estate to join his brother Prince William and his father the King.

      It was somehow appropriate that the Queen should spend her last days here, in the place she loved perhaps more than anywhere else. Her affection for Scotland was – in her own words – deep and abiding.

      And from the earliest days of her reign the 50,000 acre estate – and its castle built for Queen Victoria in the 1850s – was her sanctuary.

      Descended from Stuart kings and Scottish aristocracy, Elizabeth’s roots in this nation ran deep.

      From the Highland Games at nearby Braemar to the coalmines of Fife; as the first monarch to visit Shetland since the Vikings; and the last to send great ships roaring into the Clyde, Elizabeth was a Queen who embodied the union of the Scottish and English crowns.

      This is our country’s saddest day – Boris Johnson

      Only a couple of days after meeting the Queen to resign as prime minister, Boris Johnson has paid tribute to a “timeless” monarch who “had a unique and simple power to make us happy”.

      “That is why we loved her,” he adds in a statement.

      Despite being “choked with sadness”, we know Elizabeth II’s heir King Charles III will “amply do justice to her legacy”, he says.

      He says it’s the country’s “saddest day”.

      Prince William has become heir to the throne, but that does not mean that he automatically becomes Prince of Wales.

      That is a title that would have to be granted by his father Charles III, who himself became Prince of Wales in 1958 and whose investiture was in 1969.

      It means that William and Kate are currently titled the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and Cambridge.

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