Queen Elizabeth is dead. Her death was announced on Thursday, September 8, 2022 through a statement by the Buckingham Palace. She died at the age of 96 years. She died at the Barmoral Castle in Scotland.
Before her death was announced, the Buckingham Palace issued a statement saying that the Queen’s doctors were concerned about her health. The palace said that her doctors had recommended that she remained under medical supervision.
Soon after that, it was reported that all the Queen’s children were either already with her at Balmoral Castle in Scotland or travelling to be with her.
Britain’s national broadcaster the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) interrupted its scheduled programming to switch to rolling news bulletins following the announcement that doctors were concerned for Queen Elizabeth’s health. This raise alarm and suspicions on whether the queen had already passed away or not.
Queen Elizabeth was born in Mayfair, London, as the first child of the Duke and Duchess of York (later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth). Her father acceded to the throne in 1936 upon the abdication of his brother, King Edward VIII, making Elizabeth the heir presumptive. She was educated privately at home and began to undertake public duties during the Second World War, serving in the Auxiliary Territorial Service.
In November 1947, she married Philip Mountbatten, a former prince of Greece and Denmark, and their marriage lasted 73 years until his death in April 2021. They had four children together: Charles, Prince of Wales; Anne, Princess Royal; Prince Andrew, Duke of York; and Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex.
When her father died in February 1952, Elizabeth—then 25 years old—became queen regnant of seven independent Commonwealth countries: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan, and Ceylon (known today as Sri Lanka), as well as Head of the Commonwealth.
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Queen reigned as a constitutional monarch through major political changes such as the Troubles in Northern Ireland, devolution in the United Kingdom, the decolonisation of Africa, and the United Kingdom’s accession to the European Communities and withdrawal from the European Union.
The number of her realms varied over time as territories gained independence and some realms became republics. Her many historic visits and meetings included state visits to China in 1986, Russia in 1994, the Republic of Ireland in 2011, and visits to or from five popes.
