Queen Elizabeth II died on Thursday at the age of 96. News has swept the globe, and many are wondering: now what?
A few things we know:
Who will rule?
- The Queen’s successor, Prince Charles, takes over immediately. However, his coronation is likely to take place more than a year after the funeral. Anything sooner is considered bad taste. The Prince currently has a 42% approval rating with the British public.
When is the funeral?
- Experts say that planning will take about 12 days to organise. This will be no standard funeral, but a state funeral: “an extremely rare honour only given to monarchs or when decreed by parliament. The last non-royal to receive this service was Winston Churchhill 57 years ago.
Stamps and money:
- According to Dr. Ed Owens, the phasing out of the Queen’s face from currency and postal stamps will begin almost immediately – not only in the UK but also in other commonwealth countries.
“God Save the Queen”?
- The UK national anthem will immediately be changed to “God Save the King” from “God Save the Queen”.
Not business as usual:
- The next 10 days will see Britain grind to a halt as various businesses close their doors to honour the Queen in a series of processions. UK television and radio schedules will be suspended and special programming arrangements will be put in place.
The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral on Thursday afternoon, 8 September 2022. The King and The Queen Consort will move to London today.
Queen Elizabeth is Britain’s longest-serving monarch, reigning for 70 years.
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Picture: Twitter