Britain starts a period of national mourning; heralds reign of King Charles III

On 10 September, at 10 am (2:30 pm in India) Charles will meet with senior officials known as the Accession Council at St. James’s Palace and will be officially proclaimed king.

At 11am (3.30pm in India) an official will read the proclamation aloud from a balcony at St. James's Palace. It will also be read out in other locations across Britain.

President Joe Biden told reporters on Friday that he planned to attend the funeral for Queen Elizabeth II.

Biden was the 13th and final U.S. president to meet the woman whose reign spanned seven decades. The queen had met every American president since Dwight Eisenhower, with the exception of Lyndon Johnson. That's because Johnson did not visit Britain during his presidency.

Biden and first lady Jill Biden said the queen’s “legacy will loom large in the pages of British history, and in the story of our world.”

Every living former U.S. president — Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump — joined Biden in mourning her passing and sending condolences to her family.

Former Duchess of Cornwall, Camilla Parker Bowles, was named as the Queen Consort by Britain's King Charles III.

 “In recognition of her own loyal public service since our marriage 17 years ago, she becomes my Queen Consort.

“I know she will bring to the demands of her new role the steadfast devotion to duty on which I have come to rely so much.

King Charles expressed his love for Prince Harry and Meghan, his son and daughter-in-law, during his first address as monarch on Friday, a significant gesture towards a couple whose relationships with the rest of the family have been strained.

"I want also to express my love for Harry and Meghan as they continue to build their lives overseas," Charles said in a solemn televised speech.

Britain's King Charles on Friday bestowed the titles of Prince and Princess of Wales on his eldest son William and daughter-in-law Kate, passing on the titles that he and his late wife Diana previously held.

"And to my darling Mama, as you begin your last great journey to join my dear late Papa, I want simply to say this: thank you. Thank you for your love and devotion to our family and to the family of nations you have served so diligently all these years,” King Charles concluded his speech as saying. "May flights of Angels sing thee to thy rest."

King Charles III said 'thank you' to his ‘darling Mama’ Queen Elizabeth II and vowed to carry on her “lifelong service” to the nation.

“I shall endeavour to serve you with loyalty, respect and love,” said King Charles. “Our values have remained and must remain constant”

King Charles paid tribute to his mother in his first address to his people. “I know her death brings sadness to so many of you,” he said.

King Charles III is scheduled to address the country for the first time as king at 10:30 PM India time. At Buckingham Palace, the monarch, 73, had a face-to-face meeting with Prime Minister Liz Truss. Earlier, while William and Camilla, the Queen Consort, were returning to London, he met throngs of people outside Buckingham Palace.

At the conclusion of this evening's mourning ceremony for the Queen at St. Paul's Cathedral in London, the first official performance of God Save the King will be performed. "Queen" will become "King" and "her victorious" will be replaced by "him victorious".

Prime Minister Liz Truss and King Charles III had their first in-person meeting at Buckingham Palace. Truss, who was chosen by the late Queen on September 6, spoke with the King for almost 30 minutes. The prime minister will later attend a memorial service for Queen Elizabeth II at St. Paul's Cathedral in London.

King Charles entered Buckingham Palace for the first time as a monarch, and the Royal Standard of the UK could be seen flying over the palace. Since there is always a sovereign on the throne, the flag is flown whenever the sovereign is residing in one of the royal palaces. It is also never flown at half-mast.

Charles III greeted crowds who shouted "God Save the King!" outside Buckingham Palace before making his inaugural address to Britain and the Commonwealth after the death of his mother Queen Elizabeth II.

King Charles III was seen greeting crowds outside Buckingham Palace.

96 rounds were fired in a royal cannon salute from the Tower of London and Hyde Park in the nation's capital, Edinburgh Castle in Scotland, Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland, Cardiff Castle in Wales, and the Channel Islands, as well as Gibraltar. Every year of Queen Elizabeth's nearly century-long reign was indicated with each shot.

The Queen's body will be moved from Balmoral Castle to Edinburgh, and then to London. Operation Unicorn is the name given to the removal of the Queen's body from her private residence. In the event that a train is not available, the body will be flown to London.

She will lie in state for several days in Parliament's Westminster Hall, where the public will be able to pay their respects. A state funeral at Westminster Abbey is due to be attended by leaders and dignitaries from around the world. The period of national mourning will end the day after the Queen's funeral.

Following a suspension of games on September 9 due to the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, cricket in England will resume on September 10.

King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla have arrived in London. King Charles will be officially proclaimed as Britain's new monarch at a meeting of the Accession Council at St James's Palace on September 10.

“Seven years of my career were played in the Premier League, making this my 8th season living in England. Throughout these years, I’ve felt the everlasting love of the UK for it’s Queen, and how important Her Majesty was and will forever be to the British people. I pay my respect to her memory and I mourn this irreplaceable loss with the country that I’ve learned to call home. My thoughts and prayers are with the Royal Family,” wrote Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Premier League has postponed the games this weekend out of respect for the Queen.

Due to the grieving period that followed the Queen's passing, the Bank of England has postponed its upcoming interest rate meeting by one week. The decision on interest rates will now be made public on September 22 rather than the Monetary Policy Committee's scheduled meeting the following week.

MPs and peers assembled in Parliament to pay tribute to the Queen. Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle opened proceedings with his memories of the Queen. Normal business in Parliament has been suspended and lawmakers will spend two days offering their memories and reflections on the queen, who died Thursday after seven decades on the throne.

Prince Charles will formally become King Charles on September 10.

UK Prime Minister Liz Truss, while giving her tribute to the Queen, said she was "one of the greatest leaders the world has ever known" and the "rock on which modern Britain was built on".

"We remember the pledge she gave on her 21st birthday to dedicate her life to service. "The whole house will agree - never has a promise been so completely fulfilled," Truss added.

The Duke of Sussex, Prince Harry, has returned to London. On September 9, about 8:15 AM, he left Balmoral alone and was seen at Aberdeen Airport getting on a flight. At 11.32 AM, his British Airways flight touched down at Heathrow.

King Charles has left the Balmoral Castle and will likely travel back to London with Camilla, who is now the Queen Consort. After that, the King will meet with newly-elected UK Prime Minister Liz Truss.

According to the official guidelines, organisations are not required to remain closed during the National Mourning period. Some companies may want to think about cancelling or delaying events, especially on the day of the State Funeral, depending on their type, location, and the nature of scheduled events. However, this is at the discretion of individual enterprises. Though there might be some alterations to service availability, public services will continue to be provided as usual, the guidelines added.

For the first time in decades, UK courts have started proceedings with the name of the King. At the Old Bailey we’ve just had the first case called on in the name of the King. “God save the King,” the Central Criminal Court England and Wales - also known as the Old Bailey - said on September 9, the BBC reported.

The Queen's state funeral is expected to take place at Westminster Abbey in less than two weeks. The exact date of the same has not been confirmed yet. It is expected to be confirmed soon by Buckingham Palace. The Queen passed away in Scotland, so St. Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh will serve as the final resting place for her body. After a few days, the casket may be open to the public for viewing.

Following the demise of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, the Indian government has decided that September 11 would be observed as a day of state mourning across the country, the Ministry of Home Affairs announced on September 9.

After taking the throne soon after his mother Queen Elizabeth II passed away, Britain's new King Charles III is expected to address the nation in a broadcast speech on September 9, as per media reports. Prior to the televised speech, a multi-day itinerary building up to the Queen's burial will take place.

Australians on Friday mourned the death of Queen Elizabeth, but republicans also revived a longstanding debate on ending the country's association with the 1,000-year-old monarchy.

The British monarch is the head of state in Australia, among 14 realms outside the United Kingdom, although the role is largely ceremonial.

Australia has long debated the need to keep a distant monarch. A 1999 referendum in Australia on becoming a republic lost with 55% of voters opposed.

"Our thoughts are with her family and all who loved her. Now Australia must move forward," said Australian Greens Party leader Adam Brandt, a prominent republican.

"We need Treaty with First Nations people, and we need to become a Republic," he wrote on Twitter.

British High Commission in Delhi has opened book of condolence for Her Majesty The Queen from today.

British railway and postal workers, at the forefront of sector-wide strikes over a cost-of-living crisis, have halted upcoming walkouts following the death of Queen Elizabeth II. The Communication Workers Union had planned to continue a 48-hour stoppage Friday but this has been called off "out of respect for" the queen, CWU general secretary Dave Ward said in a statement late Thursday.

The RMT rail union said it was suspending walkouts planned the next week and the TSSA transport union has called off its September strikes. Train drivers union Aslef has also suspended a planned stoppage.

"RMT joins the whole nation in paying its respects to Queen Elizabeth," its general secretary Mick Lynch said in a statement. "The planned railway strike action on 15 and 17 September is suspended. "We express our deepest condolences to her family, friends and the country," he added.

Many Hong Kongers took to social media on Friday to mourn Queen Elizabeth II, a woman affectionately nicknamed "boss lady" among older residents in a city that was one of Britain's last colonies.

Elizabeth visited Hong Kong twice during her reign, while her son -- now King Charles III -- was present for the handover to China in 1997.

"My grandmother who raised me always spoke of the 'boss lady', I heard about her so much she felt like family... Today it's like a family member passed away," Facebook user Vincent Lam wrote.

"It's the end of an era... Thank you for your lifetime of devotion," read another post on the Facebook group Hong Kong Reminiscence that garnered nearly 4,000 likes within hours of Elizabeth's death, news of which broke overnight in the city.

King Charles III on Friday readied to address his mourning subjects on the first full day of his new reign as Britain and the world commemorated the extraordinary life of his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II. At 73, Charles is the oldest monarch yet to ascend the throne of the United Kingdom, following the death of his "cherished" mother at her Scottish estate of Balmoral on Thursday.

He was due to return to London from Balmoral, where the 96-year-old queen died "peacefully" after a year-long period of ill-health and decline, at the culmination of a record-breaking reign of 70 years. "During this period of mourning and change, my family and I will be comforted and sustained by our knowledge of the respect and deep affection in which the queen was so widely held," Charles said in a statement.

The Union Jack flag at the British High Commission in New Delhi was flown at half-mast on Friday following the demise of Queen Elizabeth II. "Her Majesty lived a life of service, of constancy which inspired and continues to inspire deep respect and affection. On this sad day I remember what She gave to my country and to so many people around the world," British High Commissioner to Alex Ellis tweeted.

1. Prince William, the elder son of Charles and the late Princess Diana. He is married to Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge. Their three children follow him in the line of succession.

2. Prince George of Cambridge, born in July 2013.

3. Princess Charlotte of Cambridge, born in May 2015.

4. Prince Louis of Cambridge, born in April 2018.

5. Prince Harry, the younger son of Charles and Diana.

6. Archie Mountbatten-Windsor, born to Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in May 2019.

7. Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor, born in June 2021.

8. Prince Andrew, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip’s second-eldest son.

9. Princess Beatrice, elder daughter of Andrew and his former wife, Sarah Ferguson.

10. Sienna Elizabeth, daughter of Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, born in September 2021.

11. Princess Eugenie, Andrew and Sarah’s younger daughter.

12. August Brooksbank, born to Eugenie and James Brooksbank in February 2021.

13. Prince Edward, the queen and Philip’s youngest child.

14. James, Viscount Severn, the younger child of Edward and his wife Sophie, Countess of Wessex.

15. Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor, Edward and Sophie’s daughter.

As Charles automatically became king the moment his mother Queen Elizabeth II died, the coronation will not come until later as this deeply symbolic ceremony takes time to organise. The coronation of a British sovereign is steeped in rituals dating back centuries. Elizabeth II's coronation in 1953 came more than a year after she became queen upon the death of her father George VI.

Period of mourning: The coronation is separate from the Accession Council, which assembles in St James's Palace immediately upon the death of a monarch to formally proclaim the accession of the successor to the throne.

Coronation ceremony: The ceremony takes place at Westminster Abbey and is ministered by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the religious leader of the Anglican Church. The archbishop introduces the new ruler to the audience, who applaud, before the sovereign then pronounces the oath of coronation.

Coronation of the wife: Unless otherwise decided, and if the new ruler is a man, his wife is proclaimed queen and crowned, following a similar but simplified ceremony. She will become queen dowager (or queen mother if the previous queen dowager is still alive) on the death of the king, who will be succeeded by his first child, regardless of gender. Queen Elizabeth II, in one of her last decisive acts for the succession, settled a long-running question about what Charles' wife, Camilla, will be called.

The Crown Jewels: The United Kingdom still uses regalia -- costumes and ornaments such as sceptres and swords -- at coronation ceremonies. The crown of St. Edward, made in 1661 for the coronation of Charles II, is traditionally used during the ceremony. Made of gold, silver, rubies and sapphires, it weighs more than two kilograms (more than four pounds) and is placed on the monarch's head at the actual moment of crowning. A lighter crown is worn when leaving the abbey. Composed of 2,868 diamonds, it was made in 1937 for the coronation of George VI and is also worn by the ruler at the annual opening of parliament.

"I willingly join all who mourn her loss in praying for the late Queen’s eternal rest, and in paying tribute to her life of unstinting service to the good of the Nation and the Commonwealth," says Pope Francis.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz described the Queen as a "role model and inspiration for millions". He praised her role in repairing relations between the UK and Germany after "the horrors of World War II". She will be missed, not least her wonderful humour, he said.