King Charles III starts reign as mourning begins for late queen
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King Charles III on Friday readied to address his mourning subjects on the first full day of his new reign as Britain and the world commemorated the extraordinary life of his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, reports AFP.
At 73, Charles is the oldest monarch yet to ascend the throne of the United Kingdom, following the death of his cherished mother at her Scottish estate of Balmoral on Thursday.
He was due to return to London from Balmoral, where the 96-year-old queen died “peacefully” after a year-long period of ill-health and decline, at the culmination of a record-breaking reign of 70 years.
“During this period of mourning and change, my family and I will be comforted and sustained by our knowledge of the respect and deep affection in which the queen was so widely held,” Charles said in a statement.
One of the planet’s most recognizable people, she was the only British monarch most people alive today had ever known.
The tributes were universal, including from Russia and China.
New York’s Empire State Building was illuminated after sunset in silver and royal purple, while the Eiffel Tower in Paris dimmed its lights in tribute.
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