Era Ends : Queen Elizabeth II Passes Away At 96 ; Longest Serving Monarch For 70 Years ; After Funeral Mourning To Last Until 7 Days

Picture : Twitter/ ANI

Buckingham Palace on Friday announced that a period of mourning for the Royal Family will be observed from now until seven days after the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. Queen Elizabeth II, the UK’s longest-serving monarch, died on Thursday at Balmoral Castle in Scotland after reigning for 70 years. She was 96.

The date of the Queen’s funeral has not yet been confirmed. In a statement, Buckingham Palace says: “Following the death of Her Majesty The Queen, it is His Majesty The King’s wish that a period of Royal Mourning be observed from now until seven days after The Queen’s Funeral.”

Separate to the national mourning, which the government is expected to outline on Friday, Royal mourning is to be observed by “members of the Royal Family, Royal Household staff and Representatives of the Royal Household on official duties, together with troops committed to Ceremonial Duties”. The Queen’s state funeral is expected to take place at Westminster Abbey in less than two weeks. The exact day will be confirmed by Buckingham Palace, the BBC reported.

On Friday, there will be a remembrance service at St Paul’s Cathedral, attended by the prime minister Liz Truss and other senior ministers. Because the Queen died in Scotland, her coffin will lie at rest at St Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh.

The public may be allowed to view the coffin after a few days. The coffin will then be flown to London, where hundreds of thousands of people will be allowed to file past over a period of four days’ lying in state at Westminster Hall. King Charles will hold his first audience with British Prime Minister Truss on Friday after which a joint Parliament session will pay tribute to the Queen.

The regular business of government is at a halt, unless anything urgent occurs, with the focus to fall entirely on the Queen during the 10-hour sitting of Parliament.

In central London, 96 rounds of gun salutes – one for every year of the Queen’s life – will be fired in tribute to the late monarch. Churches will also toll their bells, with the Church of England sending out guidance to parishes, chapels and cathedrals across the country encouraging them to open for prayer or special services.