People queue to see the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II as she lies at rest at St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh, Scotland, Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2022. (AP)Queen Elizabeth Death Live Updates: Queen Elizabeth’s coffin will be flown to London on Tuesday at the end of 24 hours of lying at rest in Edinburgh’s historic cathedral, where her son King Charles and his three siblings held a silent vigil. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of people are queuing to pay their respects to the Queen as her coffin makes its journey from Edinburgh.
King Charles called parliament on Monday “the living and breathing instrument of our democracy”, addressing lawmakers and peers in Westminster Hall which he said offered connections to his mother, Queen Elizabeth. “Parliament is the living and breathing instrument of our democracy,” King Charles said before lawmakers and peers stood to sing the national anthem, news agency Reuters reported.
In his first official since Queen Elizabeth’s death, her grandson Prince Harry hailed her as a “guiding compass” and praised her “unwavering grace and dignity. The personal statement, posted Monday on Harry and his wife Meghan’s Archwell website, said he cherished their times together “from my earliest childhood memories with you, to meeting you for the first time as my Commander-in-Chief, to the first moment you met my darling wife and hugged your beloved greatgrandchildren.”
elizabethQueen Elizabeth II of Britain laying a wreath at the Samadhi of Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat on November 18, 1983. (Express archive photo)
In a country famed for irreverence, some worry a new code of silence has taken hold.
Since the death of Queen Elizabeth II, a handful of people in Britain have been detained by police for expressing - often bluntly - anti-monarchy views.
A woman in Edinburgh holding a sign reading "F-- imperialism, abolish the monarchy" was charged with a breach of the peace. A man faced the same charge after he heckled Prince Andrew as the queen's hearse travelled through the Scottish capital.
In Oxford, peace activist Symon Hill was put in handcuffs after he shouted his opposition during a ceremonial proclamation of the new king. (AP)
Britain's King Charles said on Tuesday he would seek the welfare of the people of Northern Ireland, taking up the example of his mother late Queen Elizabeth.
"I take up my new duties resolved to seek the welfare of all the inhabitants of Northern Ireland," Charles said, recalling the "shining example" set by his mother.
"At the very beginning of her life of service, The Queen made a pledge to dedicate herself to her country and her people and to maintain the principles of constitutional government. This promise she kept with steadfast faith." (Reuters)
King Charles III landed in Northern Ireland on Tuesday on the latest leg of his tour of the four parts of the United Kingdom, where crowds of well-wishers gathered to greet him in a region with a deeply contested British and Irish identity divided over the British monarchy. (AP)
British officials say some 500 foreign dignitaries will attend Queen Elizabeth II's state funeral, but invitations have not been sent to the leaders of Russia, Belarus or Myanmar.
Officials said the funeral next Monday, to be held at London's Westminster Abbey, will be the biggest international event Britain has hosted in decades.
US President Joe Biden was among the first to announce that he would be flying in with his wife, Jill Biden. The leaders of most Commonwealth countries, including Australia, New Zealand and Canada, are also expected to attend.
France's Emmanuel Macron, Germany's Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Italy's Sergio Mattarella, Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro are among the presidents attending.
Japan's Emperor Naruhito and Spain's King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia, as well as former Spanish monarch Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofia, are also due to travel to London for the occasion. (AP)
King Charles heads to Northern Ireland on Tuesday, leading the mourning for Queen Elizabeth in the four parts of the United Kingdom before his mother's coffin is flown to London ahead of four days of lying in state.
After a silent vigil attended by Charles, his sister Anne and brothers Andrew and Edward at St Giles' Cathedral in the Scottish capital Edinburgh on Monday, people queued overnight to file past the queen's coffin, some with sleeping children.
Charles, 73, is travelling to the four parts of the United Kingdom before the queen's funeral on Sept. 19. In Northern Ireland, people started to line the streets at Hillsborough Castle, the monarch's official residence, ahead of his visit. (Reuters)
Britain has not invited representatives from Russia, Belarus and Myanmar to attend Queen Elizabeth's state funeral due to be held next Monday, a Whitehall source said on Tuesday.
Britain, along with its Western allies, has sought to isolate Russia and its ally Belarus on the world stage with economic sanctions and other measures in response to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
Myanmar and its military have also been the subject of British sanctions as London steps up support for the Southeast Asian country's Rohingya community. (Reuters)
Queen Elizabeth’s coffin will be flown to London on Tuesday at the end of 24 hours of lying at rest in Edinburgh’s historic cathedral, where her son King Charles and his three siblings held a silent vigil.
Charles was joined by his sister Anne and brothers Andrew and Edward for the 10-minute vigil on Monday at St Giles’ Cathedral, where they stood, heads bowed, at the four sides of the coffin while members of the public filed past to pay their respects.
While a bagpipe lament had been the only sound as kilted soldiers bore the casket earlier in the day, the four royals left the vigil in darkness to the sound of applause from mourners lining the street.
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King Charles III built his own empire long before he inherited his mother’s.
Charles, who formally acceded to the British throne Saturday, spent half a century turning his royal estate into a billion-dollar portfolio and one of the most lucrative moneymakers in the royal family business.
While his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, largely delegated responsibility for her portfolio, Charles was far more deeply involved in developing the private estate known as the Duchy of Cornwall. Over the past decade, he has assembled a large team of professional managers who increased his portfolio’s value and profits by about 50%.
As Queen Elizabeth II's four children walked silently behind, a hearse carried her flag-draped coffin along a crowd-lined street in the Scottish capital Monday to a cathedral, where a service of thanksgiving hailed the late monarch as a “constant in all of our lives for over 70 years.”
Four days after the 96-year-old queen died at her beloved Balmoral Castle in the Scottish Highlands, a military bagpiper played as her oak coffin, draped in the red-and-yellow Royal Standard of Scotland, was borne from the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh under late-summer sunshine.
King Charles III, dressed in army uniform, and Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward walked behind as the hearse traveled to St. Giles’ Cathedral, flanked by a bearer party of the Royal Regiment of Scotland and a detachment of the Royal Company of Archers, the king's ceremonial bodyguard in Scotland. (AP)
A line has already started forming to view Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin when she lies in state in London, even though that won’t start till Wednesday evening.Security staff are preparing for millions of people to pay their respects to the late monarch, whose coffin will be in London’s Westminster Hall until her state funeral on September 19.
The line is expected to stretch from Parliament along the bank of the River Thames.Officials have advised commuters in the city to change their working patterns because London is expected to be extremely busy in coming days. (Reuters)
The royal invitation sent to the White House to attend Queen Elizabeth's funeral was for President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden only, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Monday. Her statement suggested Biden would not be assembling a U.S. delegation to attend the Sept. 19 funeral in London. He is to depart for London on Saturday. (Reuters)
Queen Elizabeth II has been likened to the invisible glue holding the United Kingdom together. Some think the reign of King Charles III will see those bonds come unstuck, giving new momentum to Scotland's push for independence. But the fact the queen died last week at her beloved Highland retreat, Balmoral Castle, has made Scotland the focus of commemorations watched around the globe in the first days after her death.
That has served as a reminder of the monarchy's deep ties to Scotland — and could provide a boost for the union. Scottish historian Tom Devine said because by “extraordinary serendipity” the queen died in Scotland, “it was possible for the world to see the relationship between the queen and this country.” “It was a fitting end to a life of service and a life of concern for the four nations — not simply one nation — of the UK,” he said. (AP)
King Charles III and his three siblings marched behind their mother’s coffin Monday in a solemn procession along the Royal Mile in the historic heart of the Scottish capital of Edinburgh.
A military bagpiper played the national anthem as the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, draped in the royal standard, was carried from the Palace of Holyroodhouse and placed in a hearse. The king, dressed in an army uniform, and Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward walked behind as the hearse rolled to St. Giles’ Cathedral.
The hearse was flanked by a bearer party of the Royal Regiment of Scotland and a detachment of The King’s Body Guard in Scotland, the Royal Company of Archers. The coffin will remain at the cathedral until Tuesday so members of the public can pay their respectEarlier, Charles and his wife Camilla, the Queen Consort, were driven from the airport to the palace, where the coffin lay overnight in the Throne Room. (AP)
King Charles arrived in Edinburgh on Monday to accompany his late mother’s coffin on an emotion-charged procession through the historic heart of the Scottish capital to a cathedral where it will lie for 24 hours to allow the public to pay their last respects.
Charles and his wife Camilla, the Queen Consort, were driven from the airport to the royal family's official residence in Edinburgh, the Palace of Holyroodhouse, where Queen Elizabeth II's coffin lay overnight in the Throne Room. On their way, they passed large crowds of people who were packed behind metal barriers along the Royal Mile, the road between Holyroodhouse and St. Giles' Cathedral.
Onlookers clapped and waved as the king's limousine passed.Charles and Camilla got out of their car at Holyroodhouse and greeted people, and looked at floral tributes before a gun salute boomed from Edinburgh Castle. Earlier, in London, Charles received condolences at Parliament and told lawmakers he would follow his late mother’s example of “selfless duty.” Earlier, Elizabeth II's grandson, Prince Harry, hailed her as a “guiding compass” and praised her “unwavering grace and dignity.
"The government, meanwhile, announced that the nation will observe a minute of silence on Sunday, the evening before the queen's funeral. The “moment of reflection” will take place at 8 p.m. (1900 GMT). People were encouraged to mark the silence at home or at community events. (AP)
Britain will on September 18 hold a national moment of reflection - a one minute silence - Prime Minister Liz Truss's spokesman said on Monday following the death of Queen Elizabeth last week.
The minute's silence will be held at 8pm (1900 GMT) on Sunday, ahead of the late queen's funeral on Monday. (Reuters)
King Charles III's plane on Monday took off from London to Scotland for taking part in procession of mother's coffin. (AP)
King Charles called parliament on Monday "the living and breathing instrument of our democracy", addressing lawmakers and peers in Westminster Hall which he said offered connections to his mother, Queen Elizabeth.
"Parliament is the living and breathing instrument of our democracy," King Charles said before lawmakers and peers stood to sing the national anthem.
"As I stand before you today, I cannot help but feel the weight of history which surrounds us, and which reminds us of the vital parliamentary traditions, to which members of both Houses, dedicate yourselves with such personal commitment for the betterment of as all." (Reuters)