Crowds gathered outside Buckingham Palace in London on Thursday on news of the death of Queen Elizabeth II at Balmoral Castle in Scotland.
A video shared by TikTok user @the_london_spy shows the flag flying at half mast over Buckingham Palace Thursday evening as the crowd sings “God Save the Queen.”
Queen Elizabeth II ascended to the throne in 1952 and died at the age of 96, making her the longest-lived and longest-reigning British monarch. The queens husband, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, died in 2021. They had four children, eight grandchildren, and twelve great-grandchildren.
The queens eldest son and heir to the throne of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is now King Charles III.
“We mourn profoundly the passing of a cherished Sovereign and a much-loved Mother,” King Charles said in his first statement as monarch. “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.”
A period of official mourning began Friday with ceremonial gun salutes across the U.K. A service will be held at St. Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh, Scotland, after which the queen will lie in state at Westminster Hall in London for five days of viewing before a state funeral at Westminster Abbey.
