QUEEN MOTHER DIES
The Queen Mother has died at the age of 101, Buckingham Palace has announced.
"Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother had become increasingly frail in recent weeks following her bad cough and chest infection over Christmas," said a Palace spokesman.
"Her condition deteriorated this morning and her doctors were called. "Queen Elizabeth died peacefully in her sleep at 3.15 this afternoon at Royal Lodge (Windsor)," said the spokesman. "The Queen was at her mother's bedside," he said. The Queen Mother's coffin is expected to be moved to the Royal Chapel of All Saints in Windsor Great Park on Sunday morning. A period of family mourning will follow, possibly lasting five days, before the coffin is moved to Westminster Hall in central London.
The public will be able to pay their respects there, which has not been seen since the death of Sir Winston Churchill in 1965. Afterwards a 'ceremonial funeral' will be held for the Queen Mother, like that seen for Britain's wartime leader. The Queen and other members of the Royal Family will not attend Easter service as planned at St George's Chapel, Windsor, on Sunday and will instead attend a private service. The Queen Mother's death comes less than two months after that of her younger daughter, Princess Margaret, who died on 9 February at the age of 71. Charles pays tribute A spokeswoman for Prince Charles, who is on a skiing holiday in Switzerland, said: "He was completely devastated by the news. "He just wants to get back from holiday in Klosters. "The plan is he will leave Switzerland tomorrow morning with Princes William and Harry. He wants to go straight to Windsor." The Duke of York, who was also abroad, was told the news in Barbados where he was on holiday with his ex-wife, the Duchess of York, and their children Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie.
Other members of the Royal Family were already arriving at Windsor for their traditional Easter gathering. With the Queen at Buckingham Palace is the Princess Royal, her husband Timothy Laurence and her two children Zara and Mark, and the Earl and Countess of Wessex. Tributes to the Queen Mother were led by Prime Minister Tony Blair who, in a statement from his official country residence at Chequers, said she had been a symbol of Britain's "decency and courage". He said the whole nation join with the Queen and Royal Family in mourning, and added: "During her long and extraordinary life, her grace, her sense of duty and her remarkable zest for life made her loved and admired by people of all ages and backgrounds, revered within our borders and beyond." 'Remarkable lady' The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr George Carey, said: "We are all the poorer because this gracious lady has been taken from us. "Her unfailing dignity, devotion to duty and charm have been a precious part of our national life for as long as most of us can remember." Dr Carey also recalled her "deep and sustaining faith" and said "Christian love shone through her character". Lord St John of Fawsley, a close friend of the Queen Mother for many years, said: "With the passing of the Queen Mother we have lost our most treasured national person. "She was not merely an historical figure. She was history." Palace bombing Outside Buckingham Palace hundreds of people gathered as dusk fell on Saturday, reading the death announcement posted on the gates. Floris Margaret Astley, 57, of Camden, north London, said: "When Buckingham Palace got bombed during the war, the Queen Mother said 'good - at least I can look the East End in the eye'. "People in London have never forgotten that. From that moment on she has been one of their own." Patricia Mumford, 49, of Bolton, who was in London with her son Simon, 15, for an Easter break, said: "I heard the news on television in my hotel room and decided to come down here to pay my respects." The union flag is flying at half mast over the palace, although no members of the Royal Family are there. |
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