Her children and grandchildren, including Prince William and Harry, were notified about her health concerns earlier today and have all managed to be by the Queen’s side during her final moments.

The Queen came to the throne in 1952 and reigned for 70 years on the throne, making her the UK’s longest-serving monarch. With her death, her eldest son Charles, the former Prince of Wales, will lead the country as the new King and head of state for 14 Commonwealth realms.

In a statement, Buckingham Palace said: “The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon. “The King and the Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow.”

All the Queen’s children traveled to Balmoral, near Aberdeen, after doctors placed the Queen under medical supervision.

Queen Elizabeth II’s tenure as head of state spanned some of the most significant moments in history from the post-war austerity, the transition from empire to Commonwealth, the end of the Cold War, and the UK’s entry into and withdrawal from the European Union.

She lead as Queen passing through 15 prime ministers starting with Winston Churchill and appointed Liz Truss as the current Prime Minister just 2 days before her passing. She held weekly audiences with her prime minister throughout her reign and was a prominent figure when it came to the UK’s international affairs.

Crowds filled out the street outside Buckingham Palace in London, awaiting updates on the Queen’s condition began crying as they heard of her death. The Union flag on top of the palace was lowered to half-mast at 18:30 BST.

The Queen was born Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor, in Mayfair, London, on 21 April 1926 and very few could have imagined everything she would have gone through as Queen. She would become monarch but in December 1936 her uncle, Edward VIII, abdicated from the throne to marry the twice-divorced American, Wallis Simpson. Her father became King George VI and Lilibet, as she was known in the family, became heir to the throne.

Within three years, Britain was at war with Nazi Germany. Elizabeth and her younger sister, Princess Margaret, spent much of wartime at Windsor Castle after their parents rejected suggestions they are evacuated to Canada.

After turning 18, during the war, Elizabeth started exchanging letters with her Philip, Prince of Greece, who was serving in the Royal Navy.

Their romance blossomed and the couple married at Westminster Abbey on 20 November 1947, with the prince taking the title of Duke of Edinburgh. She would later describe him as “my strength and stay” through 74 years of marriage, before his death in 2021, aged 99.

Their first son, Charles, was born in 1948, followed by Princess Anne, in 1950, Prince Andrew, in 1960, and Prince Edward, in 1964. Between them, they gave their parents eight grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.

Elizabeth was crowned at Westminster Abbey on 2 June 1953, aged 27, in front of a then-record TV audience estimated at more than 20 million people. She has since been described as the best monarch the UK has ever had.

Our thoughts are with the Royal family during these difficult times. Rest in Peace Queen Elizabeth. God save King Charles III.

As Australia’s leading bridal jewellery designer, Stephanie brings to the UK her unrivalled experience of over 20 years of creating some of the world’s most exquisite haute-couture designs. This season, Stephanie includes four stunning new additions to her collection – including ‘The Taylor story’, in homage to Elizabeth Taylor and the charming ‘Sophia’ inspired by the era of sense and sensibility, ‘Astoria’ reminiscent of Art Deco glamour, and finally ‘Windsor’ which pays homage to the glory of Queen Elizabeth II’s amazing reign.

At White Gallery, Stephanie will proudly unveil further new additions for the 2013 season – a wonderful opportunity to see the designs first hand. Stephanie’s pieces are sought after statements of the most elegant of bridal jewellery, all designed with her exceptional eye for detail, and a loving appreciation for that special day. Her jewellery is made of the very finest materials and covered by 6 month warranty.
‘My collection is for every bride in the winter garden of her dreams, with each piece lovingly created to treasure for today and tomorrow’ comments Stephanie.

For samples or please contact Paul Wendt at Barberini Fashion paul@barberinifashion.com

For more information on attending or exhibiting at White Gallery visit www.whitegallery.com

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I wish I had an invite to the thanksgiving service, which was held at London’s Westminster Abbey. Two thousand guests were invited, including British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, which is more significant than an actual wedding. Well, I guess it is the Queen, after all. The Queen’s dress was made of satin woven from silk from Chinese silkworms and decorated with 10,000 pearls! There was a bit of gossip at the Queen’s wedding, well her tiara broke on her big day when someone placed it on her and not to mention one of the bouquets was left behind so someone had to run back and get it. Glad to hear it happens to everyone! I came across this from the royal expert James Whitaker and wanted to share it with you all.

• 1. They sealed their friendship over ginger biscuits and lemonade, and then Philip demonstrated his athleticism by jumping over the nets of the college tennis courts.
• 2. Although a prince of Greece, Philip comes from Danish, Russian, German and English stock. Before marrying, he had to be naturalised as British, which took three years.
• 3. In 1956, the Queen and the Duke introduced lunches at Buckingham Palace to meet distinguished people from all walks of life. There are usually six to eight guests.
• 4. Together, the two have sent nearly 40,000 Christmas cards during her 55-year reign.
• 5. Their first London residence was Clarence House, where Charles and Camilla now live.
• 6. The royal couple have been separated once on an overseas tour. In 1974, the Queen had to return home from Australia when an election was called. Philip was rejoined by his wife in Indonesia.
• 7. The Prince’s favourite tipple is lager.
• 8. Every week, without fail, Prince Philip gets flowers for the Queen.
• 9. The Queen’s former private secretary, Lord Charteris (1972-77), said of Philip: “He is the only man in the world who treats the Queen as a human being.”
• 10. The teenage Princess Elizabeth kept a photo of Philip on her mantelpiece. When her nanny Marion Crawford asked if it was wise as people would gossip, Elizabeth replaced it with one of the princes with a naval beard and said: “I defy anyone to recognise who that is!”
• 11. During their engagement, they played a parlour game called Murder, often ending up in dark spots when the lights went out.
• 12. Not as religious as his wife, Philip conspicuously read a book during Prince Charles’s confirmation. The Archbishop of Canterbury at the time, Michael Ramsay, said: “Bloody rude, that’s what I call it.”
• 13. Philps pet name for his wife is “sausage”.
• 14. The Queen Mother used to refer to Philip as The Hun as he is a member of the German house of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glucksburg.
• 15. When the pair honeymooned at Broadlands, the Mountbatten’s country home near Romsey, Hants, the bride had 15 suitcases, the groom two.
• 16. Under pressure from his wife-to-be, Philip quit smoking on the morning of his wedding.
• 17. Princess Elizabeth and Lieut Philip Mountbatten had an inauspicious start to married life. None of his sisters were allowed to attend the wedding as they had all married high-ranking German officers, and the war was “too fresh in people’s minds”.
• 18. When Philip’s cousin Patricia Mountbatten ten remarked on Elizabeth’s flawless complexion, the Prince joked: “Yes, and she’s like that all over.”
• 19. George VI’s private secretary, Sir Alan Lascelles, spoke for many when he described Philip as “rough, uneducated and would probably not be faithful”.
• 20. The princess first met Philip when she was 13 during a tour of the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth, Devon.
• 21. Philip was born a prince of Greece and became a prince of the United Kingdom in 1957
• 22. In traditional upper-class fashion, Elizabeth and Philip had connecting bedrooms. When he walked into Philip’s bedroom one morning, royal valet James MacDonald was embarrassed to find Elizabeth in a silk nightgown and Philip naked. “Prince Philip didn’t care at all,” said MacDonald. “Pyjamas? Never wear the things,” Philip once said.
• 23. When they first moved into Buckingham Palace, Philip had a direct phone line installed so that he could talk to his wife without going through the switchboard.
• 24. War rationing was in force when they married, and Elizabeth had to save her clothes coupons for her Norman Hartnell wedding dress. It cost £1,200 and used up 300 coupons.
• 25. Once, when the Queen repeatedly sucked in her breath at his fast driving, Philip told her: “If you do that once more, I shall put you out of the car.”
• 26. To the delight of Philip, the Queen refuses to wear a riding hat (she wears a scarf) and will not belt up in the car.
• 27. The Queen and Prince Philip dislike duvets and prefer sheets and blankets.
• 28. The wedding reception was a low-key affair for 150 at Buckingham Palace. The King decreed there should be no long speeches as he hated making and listening to them.
• 29. The Queen has never revealed how Philip proposed to her.
• 30. On the wedding day, a footman lost the bride’s bouquet, and her tiara snapped as it was put on.
• 31. In the year of their wedding, the Queen and Philip attended a fancy dress ball. She dressed as a maid, he as a waiter.
• 32. While courting, the couple’s favourite tune was People Will Say We’re In Love from the musical Oklahoma!
• 33. Philip has nothing to do with his wife’s life as sovereign but does deal with family problems, of which there have been many.
• 34. “It is not unknown for the Queen to tell Philip to shut up,” Lord Charteris once revealed.
• 35. The first “Royal Walkabout” was in 1970 in New Zealand and Australia. The idea, thought to have been put forward by Philip, was to meet ordinary people.
• 36. Philip designed his bride’s engagement ring using diamonds given to him by his mother, Alice.
• 37. Although the Queen has sat for 141 official portraits during her lifetime, only two were with her husband.
• 38. The Queen took her favourite corgi, Susan, on their honeymoon.
• 39. On the day of his wedding, a relative of the nervous Philip told him to enjoy the “great day”. He replied: “I don’t know if I’m being brave or foolish.”
• 40. The Queen still carries in her handbag a silver make-up case given to her by Philip as a wedding gift.
• 41. All the Queen’s major decisions – paying tax, giving up the royal yacht, urging Charles and Diana to have an early divorce – were taken after consulting Philip.
• 42. At the Coronation in 1953, Philip was the first layman to pay homage to the Queen. He knelt at her feet and kissed her left cheek.
• 43. After the death of King George VI in February 1952, the royal couple did not want to move into Buckingham Palace, but Prime Minister Winston Churchill insisted.
• 44. The Queen and Philip still have blazing rows. One courtier said: “You can hardly believe what you are seeing. There are cries of ‘Rubbish’ and ‘You don’t know what you’re talking about.'”
• 45. When Philip, encouraged by the Queen, mooted the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme in 1956, the then Education minister, David Eccles, said: “I hear you’re trying to invent something like the Hitler Youth movement.”
• 46. Like her late mother, the Queen loves a gin and Dubonnet for lunch but actually drinks very little.
• 47. Philip was not allowed to give son Charles his surname, Mountbatten, he protested loudly.
• 48. Philip has not missed a single key event of the Queen’s long reign.
• 49. Philip could never have a bath with his wife because a maid is always in attendance.
• 50. The Queen loves to do impersonations and does a very good one of Philip.
• 51. Philip stays fit by using coiled-metal chest expanders, taking them with him wherever he goes.
• 52. Although they still sleep in the same bed most of the time, they stay in separate rooms if one of them has to get up early.
• 53. The couple received 2,500 wedding presents from around the world. Among them was a piece of cloth from Mahatma Gandhi which Queen Mary, the Queen’s grandmother, thought was a loin cloth.
• 54. Because of post-war rationing, most of the ingredients for the four-tier wedding cake were donated as a wedding gift by Australian Girl Guides.
• 55. A picture of Prince Philip wearing naval uniform, as above, has pride of place on the Queen’s writing table.
• 56. Malta is the only country other than the UK where the royal couple have lived. Philip served there with the Navy between 1949 and 1951, during which time his wife would visit.
• 57. The Queen finds video recorders complicated so Philip is in charge of taping her favourite programmes.
• 58. They eat breakfast together with cereals on the table in plastic Tupperware containers.
• 59. If rowing with her husband, the Queen’s technique is to talk in riddles to confuse his logical mind.
• 60. The 60th wedding anniversary is being celebrated with Royal Mint gold and silver 5 coins, featuring a joint portrait of the Queen and Philip on one side and an engraving of the rose window of Westminster Abbey, where they married, on the other. With thanks to the royal expert James Whitaker for researching these 60 facts.

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