Tributes on death of Queen Elizabeth – as it happened

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Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, left Balmoral alone at about 8.15am this morning, with the convoy passing flowers that had been laid as tributes to his late grandmother. Guardian photographer Murdo MacLeod captured the poignant moment.

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9 Sept 202204.47 EDT

Geneva Abdul

Hundreds of mourners have been gathering outside Buckingham Palace from early this morning, reports my colleague Geneva Abdul.

Many were continuing to lay bouquets against the palace gates with touching tributes thanking the Queen for her years of service and dedication.

Rose, who asked not to use her last name, was one of many laying flowers before starting their workday.

“She’s done such a wonderful job for our country,” said Rose. “I respected her Christian faith, I’m really sorry we’ve lost such a great monarch.”

Rose recently lost her father whose funeral is next week, she shared as her eyes began to water, adding, she feels on a similar path of grief as the royal family.

“I’m grieving for my father and grieving for the queen now as well,” said Rose, who recalled standing on the streets for Princess Diana’s funeral.

“I very much hope I can be here for the queens funeral as well, standing on the streets somewhere to pay my respects.”

Jane and Glenn Oxford, visiting London for the weekend, made their way to Buckingham Palace to pay their respects, but we’re unable to find a bouquet to pay tribute with all the surrounding shops sold out.

“We just had to come, because she was just so much for everybody she gave her life for this country and I think that’s just so special,” said Jane fighting back tears.

“She had dignity all her life, she’s done so many things and never moaned at all, and that’s great. Not many people can do that, so, good on you Liz,” said Glenn.

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9 Sept 202204.39 EDT

Caroline Davies

The King has declared that a period of official Royal Mourning will be observed from today lasting until seven days after the Queen’s state funeral, reports Caroline Davies.

Royal Mourning is observed by members of the royal family, as well as staff in the royal households, and troops on ceremonial duties.

It has also been announced that gun salutes, one round fired for each of the Queen’s 96 years, will be fired from Hyde Park and the Tower of London at 1pm as the nation enters a period of national mourning, the details of which will be announced by the government.

In a statement, Buckingham Palace said: “Following the death of Her Majesty The Queen, it is His Majesty The King’s wish that a period of Royal Mourning be observed from now until seven days after The Queen’s Funeral. The date of the Funeral will be confirmed in due course.

“Royal Mourning will be observed by Members of the Royal Family, Royal Household staff and Representatives of the Royal Household on official duties, together with troops committed to Ceremonial Duties.

“Flags at Royal Residences were half masted yesterday, Thursday 8^th September, and will remain half-masted until 0800hrs on the morning after the final day of Royal Mourning.”

The half-masting of flags at Royal Residences does not apply to the Royal Standard and the Royal Standard in Scotland when the King is in residence, as they are always flown at full mast.

Guidance on flags at other public buildings has been issued by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Royal gun salutes will be fired in London at 1pm, in Hyde Park by The King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery, and at the Tower of London by the Honourable Artillery, with one round fired for each year of the Queen’s life.

There will be no physical books of condolence at royal residences, but an online Book of Condolence for those who wish to leave messages is available on the Royal website.

Dedicated sites for floral tributes from the public have been set up, in Green Park and Hyde Park near Buckingham Palace in London. In Windsor a dedicated site has been set up at Cambridge Gate on the Long Walk, with flowers brought inside the castle every evening, and placed on the Castle Chapter grass on the south side of St George’s Chapel and Cambridge Drive.

At the Sandringham Estate, members of the public are encouraged to leave floral tributes at the Norwich Gates. At Balmoral Castle, floral tributes can be left at the Main Gate. At the Palace of Holyroodhouse, members of the public are encouraged to give floral tributes to the Wardens at the entrance to The Queen’s Gallery, which will be laid on the forecourt grass in front of the North Turret of the Palace. At Hillsborough Castle, floral tributes may be laid on the Castle forecourt, in front of the main gates.

All royal residences will remain closed to the public until after the Queen’s state funeral, which is expected to be on Monday September 19, although that has not yet been officially confirmed.

This includes The Queen’s Gallery, and Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace, the Queen’s Gallery in Edinburgh. The Queen’s private estates at Balmoral Castle and Sandringham House, will also close for this period, as will Hillsborough Castle, the Queen’s official residence in Northern Ireland.

9 Sept 202204.30 EDT

Severin Carrell

Aberdeenshire council has laid on special buses to take well-wishers to Balmoral from the nearby villages of Braemar and Ballater, to avoid the main road being overwhelmed by parked cars and queues, writes Scotland editor Severin Carrell .

He’s also taken some pics of messages left on bouquets. Beautiful note from a little girl called Tilly, which simply says: “Love you Queen.”

It said dedicated park and ride facilities had been set up in both villages, and a disabled parking zone at the nearer settlement of Crathie, to ferry well-wishers to and from the castle gates.

It urged well-wishers not to bring soft toys, candles or photographs – in part because of the heavy rain soaking Royal Deeside on Thursday morning.

“Members of the public are advised that there will be limited rest facilities at the estate and are asked to return to Ballater or Braemar after paying their respects. There will be neither the space nor the facilities to allow the public to gather in the area. There
will also be restrictions regarding what can be taken on the buses, with signage in the locations to this effect,” the council said.

“In particular, only floral tributes will be permitted – no other items such as candles, soft toys or photographs should be brought.

“Please also be aware the weather is very wet and queueing is likely, so please dress appropriately as there is no shelter.”

In Edinburgh the authorities are preparing for large crowds near Holyroodhouse and around the Old Town, writes the Guardian’s Mark Brown.

One of the first to arrive at Holyroodhouse was 40-year-old council worker Andrew Anderson who had set off from Balloch, Loch Lomond, at 5.30am to lay flowers.

“I heard the news and knew I had to come. I thought Balmoral would be
too busy so i came here. She’s been a constant in my life. When I heard I just felt lost. It’s a common phrase but it’s true, the world is a sadder place.”

9 Sept 202204.19 EDT

Daniel Boffey

The front gates of Buckingham Palace are filling with floral tributes, wedged between the black rails or laid on the pavement, writes the Guardian’s Chief Reporter Daniel Boffey.

The vast majority of people, a few thousand now, had simply been passing by and decided to take a moment to reflect. Joggers, byciclists, suit wearing commuters, are just as prominent as those who travelled into central London in the early hours for the sole purpose of commemorating the Queen’s passing.

Sam Knight, 26, said the loss of the Queen had brought back memories of bereavements in her own family. “I just thought I would come before work to mark it”, she said. The palace’s empty balcony was the focus for others. “That is what did upset me - thinking she won’t be up there again”, said James Hall, 31.

Severin Carrell has been speaking to mourners outside Balmoral.

Kay McClement, 58, a local holiday park owner, was amongst the well-wishers braving the rain to lay flowers alongside the granite gate to Balmoral on Thursday morning.

“She was such a wonderful woman,” she said, as she walked to the gate with her friend Sarah McCoshim[cor], 56. “She’s just everything you would want in a mum and a grandmother, and we want to come and pay our respects. Because we’re local, it feels like something deep inside you.”

McCoshim, 56, who works for Marks & Spencers, remembered being in London when Princess Diana died. “Myself and my colleagues just felt, as thousands did, we just had to go, just to pay our respects and feel that connection. It just evokes a feeling, and I do feel the same now. I was cleaning my carpets all day yesterday and had the telly
on constantly: I just felt that connection. She was an incredibly special person.”

The former British prime minister Theresa May has said audiences with the “immensely knowledgeable” Queen were the only meetings as leader where everything that was said would remain private.

She said the meetings involved “talking about the affairs of the day, in a sense tapping into her wisdom and that knowledge that she had from her great experience”.

Speaking on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme, she said:

She was a very acute judge of people and was able often to give those little, if you like, pen portraits of people that she knew, that she’d met. And sometimes it was a case of not just the individual but actually a sort of history of that individual, of her experiences of particular countries, particular issues.

There was often that twinkle in the eye, and that magnificent smile that would break out and that calmed so many people’s nerves and made so many people feel at ease.

The Dalai Lama has expressed his “deep sadness” over the death of the Queen in a letter to King Charles III. He told the King his mother had lead “a meaningful life”.

He wrote:

I remember seeing photographs of her coronation in magazines when I was young in Tibet. Her reign, as Britain’s longest-serving monarch, represented celebration, inspiration and a reassuring sense of continuity for so many people alive today.
Your mother lived a meaningful life with dignity, grace, a strong sense of service and a warm heart, qualities we all should treasure.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has been speaking on BBC Breakfast this morning.

He said that the Queen could make anyone she met feel like they were the only person in the room.

There were hundreds of events every year which she attended. And she was the one – and again it runs in the family, I’ve seen His Majesty do the same thing – who could go into a room full of people or walk down a crowded street, and everyone she spoke to felt that they were the only person there.

She was never looking over their shoulder to see if there was somebody a bit more interesting. Everybody got her attention.

He added:

I think part of her great service that was unseen, as one former prime minister I heard say, that there’s only one person in the world that he could talk to and say exactly what he thought and felt and was 100% certain that it would never go any further.

And I think that that was a hidden service. She was a place of confidences, and of accumulating wisdom.