Queen Elizabeth died peacefully at the age of 96 at Balmoral Castle, her home in the Scottish Highlands. The cause of death was declared as bronchopneumonia, a type of pneumonia involving relatively small areas of lung tissue which make it harder for someone to breathe. The Queen was the backbone of England and the longest-reigning monarch in British history. She served 70 years on the throne and she was seen as a symbol of stability in the nation.

Queen Elizabeth oversaw an extraordinary era in the British empire that revolutionized the country. She pledged her life to the monarchy by devoting herself to the throne and service of the people when she was just 21. After the death of her father, King George VI, she was crowned as Queen of England at the age of 27. 

Queen Elizabeth stood with her country through thick and thin and provided stability and courage. During World War ll, she trained as an auto mechanic in the Women’s Auxiliary Territorial Service, the women’s branch of the British Army. Moreover, throughout her seven decades of being the queen, she traveled to over 117 countries and met with numerous world leaders and influential people. Throughout her reign, she met 13 of the United States’ presidents. However, the queen did more than just travel around the world. Prince William, said in a 2012 documentary that, “she has managed to modernize and evolve the monarchy like no other.”

The Queen’s death shocked the nation and thousands of people gathered outside the Buckingham Palace to pay their respects to the beloved queen. Her death not only shocked the nation, but her family including her son, Charles, the new king of England. In a public statement, he said “The death of my beloved mother, Her Majesty the Queen, is a moment of the greatest sadness for me and all members of my family–we mourn profoundly the passing of a cherished Sovereign and a much-loved Mother — her loss will be deeply felt throughout the country, the Realms and the Commonwealth, and by countless people around the world.”             

After the Queen’s death, her eldest son and heir Charles, became the new monarch of England and the head of the Commonwealth of Nations, a voluntary association of 56 independent and equal countries. Alongside King Charles II, his wife, Camilla, became the queen consort of the United Kingdom. Furthermore, the son of the late Princess Diana and King Charles’s son William, and his wife, Kate Middleton, have been named the Prince and Princess of Wales by King Charles II.

Several members of the royal family walked behind the coffin during the Queen’s procession, including the Queen’s four children — King Charles II, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward following along the route of the Queens coffin. Additionally, many world leaders who met with Queen Elizabeth during her reign were heartbroken to hear about her death. The new prime minister of the United Kingdom, Elizabeth Truss, who met with the Queen just prior to her death, said that her death was a “huge shock to the nation and to the world.” 

Queen Elizabeth’s legacy will remain in the books of British history and the lasting impressions that she left for her country will have a special place in citizens hearts. British subjects will remember her as a royal figure who ruled with dignity and shaped the 20th-century by being one of the longest-reigning monarchs in Britain.