Queen Elizabeth II died on Thursday, September 8 at the age of 96, after a reign of more than 70 years. His state of health had deteriorated a year after spending a night in the hospital for reasons that were never specified. The entire royal family was at his bedside at Balmoral Castle, Scotland. His heir Charles automatically became king.
Queen Elizabeth II, the world’s most famous monarch, died Thursday at the age of 96 at her Scottish castle of Balmoral, her family by her side, Buckingham Palace announced in a press release. The latter announced that his son Prince Charles will automatically succeed him as head of state.
” The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon. The King and Queen consort will stay at Balmoral tonight and return to London tomorrow “, Said Buckingham Palace in a press release, an announcement greeted by enormous emotion in the United Kingdom where Elizabeth II was very popular.
The death of the sovereign, who had limited appearances for one night in the hospital in October 2021 and had recognized difficulty in moving around, opens a period of national mourning, until her funeral in ten days. Televisions and radios interrupted their programs to announce the death of the sovereign, widowed since the death in April 2021 of her husband Philip.
Flags at half mast
The British flag was lowered at Buckingham Palace, where hundreds of people were gathered. People present in front of the palace burst into tears and the crowd fell silent, noted an AFP journalist, while on television the BBC broadcast the British anthem.
The disappearance of the sovereign is sure to arouse immense emotion in the United Kingdom and in the world. Symbol of stability having crossed the times and the crises imperturbable, she had rubbed shoulders, since the death of her father George VI in 1952, when she was only 25 years old, Nehru, Charles de Gaulle or Mandela who called her ” my friend “.
His son, Charles who succeeds him, will have a lot to do to preserve the attachment of the British to the monarchy, an institution that some consider outdated, but whose prestige Elizabeth II had managed to maintain. He acceded to the throne at a time when the unity of the United Kingdom is cracking, under the effect of Brexit, which has awakened the desire for independence in Scotland and community tensions in Northern Ireland. In the former British colonies that remained kingdoms, criticisms are also strong on the colonialist past and the republican inclinations are reinforced.