The Diplomat
Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom died today at the age of 96 at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, the British Royal Family confirmed.
In a terse statement, Buckingham Palace confirmed that Queen Elizabeth II “died peacefully” at the age of 96 and added that “the King and Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow.”
Her death brings to an end 70 years of reign and will allow her son Charles, 73, to come to the throne. In her last act as Queen, Elizabeth II received this week the new Prime Minister, Liz Truss, at the Balmoral residence, instead of at Buckingham Palace, as is tradition.
However, this same Wednesday she cancelled her agenda and the Royal House confirmed that her state of health had worsened, after which the most direct relatives of the Queen had travelled urgently to Balmoral.
The Queen acceded to the throne in February 1952 to succeed her father, George VI. In 2015 she became the longest-reigning Queen in her country’s history, having surpassed her great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria (whom she had surpassed eight years earlier as the oldest British monarch in history). For 73 years she was married to Prince Philip of Edinburgh, who died in April 2021, and with whom she had four children, eight grandchildren and twelve great-grandchildren.
Condolences of the King and Queen of Spain
The King and Queen of Spain have sent their condolences in a telegram on the death of Elizabeth II, stressing that she was “an example to us all and “her sense of duty, her commitment and a lifetime dedicated to the service of the people of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland” will remain “a strong and valuable legacy for future generations”.
In the telegram addressed to the new king, Charles of England, Felipe VI states: “Deeply saddened by the sad news of the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, your beloved Mother, I wish to convey to Your Majesty and to the British people, on my own behalf and on behalf of the Spanish Government and people, our deepest condolences”.
For his part, the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, expressed on his Twitter account his condolences “to the entire royal family, the government and the citizens of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth” on the death of Elizabeth II, whom he described as “a figure of world importance, witness and author of British and European history”.
