London — People in Britain and its commonwealth nations woke up on Friday with a new monarch for the first time in most of their lives. King Charles III returned to London from Scotland to meet the prime minister and address the British people for the first time as their monarch.
Buckingham Palace announced that Charles had requested a formal "period of Royal Mourning" for his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, who died on Thursday after a record 70-year reign. The U.K.'s longest-reigning monarch, one of the world's most enduring and instantly recognizable personalities, died at her beloved summer home in Scotland, Balmoral Castle, at the age of 96.
The following week and a half will see a meticulously orchestrated process of both mourning and constitutional transition play out across Great Britain. It will be colored by the grief of a grateful nation mourning a queen with whom many felt a deep connection.
Tributes continued to pour in from leaders, dignitaries and celebrities from across the globe Friday as thousands of people flocked to Buckingham Palace and the queen's other homes to lay flowers and notes of thanks for Elizabeth's lifetime of dedication and service. King Charles showed up with his wife, Queen Consort Camilla, to shake the hands of well-wishers in front of Buckingham Palace.
Follow the latest developments below, as a new era dawns in Great Britain.
KEY DEVELOPMENTS:
— Prince Charles became king upon his mother's death
— Will Charles be loved by his subjects, like his mother was?
— Queen Elizabeth II, a monarch bound by duty, dies at 96
— Elizabeth has been the only monarch most people in Britain know
— ‘A constant in my life’: World mourns Queen Elizabeth II
— Biden is 13th and final US president to meet Queen Elizabeth II
OTHER DEVELOPMENTS:
NICOSIA, Cyprus - In ethnically divided Cyprus, President Nicos Anastasiades offered condolences for the Queen’s passing, posting on his official Twitter account, “our thoughts are with the Royal Family and the people of the United Kingdom.”
ut for many Greek Cypriots, those thoughts hark back to a bloody, four-year guerrilla campaign that was waged in the late 1950s against British colonial rule and a perceived indifference the Queen demonstrated over the plight of nine individuals whom British authorities executed by hanging, despite appeals for their death sentences to be commuted.
Yiannis Spanos, president of Association of National Organization of Cypriot Fighters (EOKA) told the Associated Press that “we respect the dead even if in life they proved to be our enemies.” Spanos said the Queen was “held by many as bearing responsibility” for the “island’s tragedies,” particularly for not granting pardons, even for some of the condemned for whom there was no definitive evidence to merit a death sentence even under colonial law.
