Queen Elizabeth II of England died following health challenges on Thursday.
Buckingham Palace announced that the queen died peacefully at Balmoral Castle.
Her death, the CNN said, brings to a close a reign that spanned seven decades and made her the most recognized woman in the world.
Elizabeth ascended to the throne in 1952, on the death of her father, King George VI. She oversaw the last throes of the British empire, weathered global upheaval and domestic scandal, and dramatically modernized the monarchy.
She died at Balmoral Castle in Scotland after doctors said they had become concerned about her health on Thursday.
Elizabeth ruled over the United Kingdom and 14 other Commonwealth realms, and became one of the most recognizable women ever to have lived. Her son, Charles, immediately became King upon her death.
Charles, as the queen’s eldest son, inherits the sovereign title and job as head of the Commonwealth, along with other assets such as land and property.
Charles, 73, has waited decades to become king and is the longest-serving heir in British history. He is the eldest of four children born to the queen and her late husband Prince Philips.
When his mother assumed the throne at age 25, he became Britain’s heir apparent at age 3. Charles’s titles include Prince of Wales, Duke of Cornwall, Duke of Rothesay and Earl of Carrick.
Charles is now King of the United Kingdom
Charles immediately became King upon the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth.
The Royal family referred to Charles as King in announcing the death of Queen Elizabeth. The tweet referred to Camila as the Queen Consort.
As heir apparent since the age of three, he has been the longest serving heir to the throne in British history.
Upon becoming the sovereign, Charles has the option to take any name he chooses for his reign as King. For example, King George VI’s real name was actually Albert. Two previous monarchs have been called Charles.
Charles had already been taking on some of the Queen’s engagements this year as her health had become enough of a concern for her to cancel some of her commitments, including the State Opening of Parliament.
Both Charles and Prince William had been prioritizing the Queen’s diary over theirs. Both of them had been activated as Counsellors of State, where the Queen delegates her sovereign power for specific purposes, and they were obligated to be even more available for those duties.
