Queen Elizabeth II, Britain’s longest-reigning monarch and a symbol of stability across much of a turbulent century, died Thursday. She was 96.
Buckingham Palace said she died at Balmoral Castle, her summer residence in Scotland, where members of the royal family had rushed to be by her side. The BBC played the national anthem over a portrait of the queen in full regalia.
With the death of the queen, her 73-year-old son Charles automatically becomes monarch, even though the coronation might not take place for months. It is not known whether he will choose to call himself King Charles III or some other name.
