LONDON: King Charles III was on Friday due to address his new subjects, as Britain was plunged into mourning by the death of Queen Elizabeth II, ending a history-making 70-year reign.
Charles, 73, became monarch immediately after the death of his mother at her Scottish Highland retreat on Thursday, sparking tributes at home and abroad.
He is due to return to London from Balmoral, where the 96-year-old queen died "peacefully" after a year-long period of ill health and decline.
Details of his inaugural address, set to be pre-recorded, were not immediately released by the palace, but are part of 10 days of detailed pre-prepared plans honed over decades.
Also on Friday, the new king is expected to hold his first audience with Prime Minister Liz Truss, who was only appointed on Tuesday in one of the queen's last ceremonial acts before her death.
He was also due to meet officials in charge of his accession and the elaborate arrangements for his mother's set-piece funeral.
He will decide on the length of the royal household's period of mourning, which is expected to last a month, while the UK government will observe 10 days of official remembrance when limited business is conducted.
Gun salutes -- one round for every year of the queen's life -- will be fired across Hyde Park in central London and from the Tower of London, the ancient royal fortress on the River Thames.
Muffled church bells will toll at Westminster Abbey, St Paul's Cathedral and Windsor Castle, among other places, and Union flags will fly at half-mast.
Truss and other senior ministers are set to attend a public remembrance service at St Paul's, while the UK parliament will start two days of special tributes.
The queen's death and its ceremonial aftermath comes as the government strives to rush through emergency legislation to tackle the kind of war-fuelled economic privation that marked the start of Elizabeth's reign in 1952.
- Tributes -
British newspapers were inevitably dominated by the queen's passing, printing special editions to mark the occasion.
"Our hearts are broken," headlined popular tabloid the Daily Mail. "We loved you Ma'am," said The Sun. The Mirror wrote simply: "Thank you."
Elizabeth, whose public appearances had become rarer, died following months of ill-health that first came to light after she spent an unscheduled night in hospital in October 2021 for undisclosed health tests.
In one of her last official acts, on Tuesday she appointed Truss as the 15th prime minister of her reign, which started with Winston Churchill in Downing Street
She was seen smiling in photographs but looked frail and leant on a walking stick. Her hand was also bruised dark blue-purple, sparking concern.
Her coffin will initially remain at Balmoral, a private residence set among thousands of acres (hectares) of rolling grouse moors and forests.
Her closest family members had rushed to be at her bedside at Balmoral, where her body will now lie before being taken to the Scottish capital Edinburgh.
From there, it is expected to travel by train to London for a lying in state and funeral.
Speaking on the steps of Downing Street shortly after her death was announced, Truss acclaimed the "second Elizabethan age", five centuries after the celebrated first.
"We offer him (Charles) our loyalty and devotion just as his mother devoted so much to so many for so long," she said in the televised address. "God save the king."
Braving steady rain, crowds gathered late into Thursday night outside Buckingham Palace in London, and Windsor Castle west of the capital, with the number of well-wishers set to swell in the days ahead.
Londoner Joshua Ellis, 24, choked back tears as he mourned the "nation's grandmother" at the palace.
"I know she is 96 but there is still a sense of shock. She is in all our minds and hearts," he said.
"You could always look to the queen, to a sense of stability. Every time people needed support, she was there."
- 'Cherished sovereign' -
Queen Elizabeth II came to the throne aged just 25 in the exhausted aftermath of World War II, joining a world stage dominated by political figures from Winston Churchill to Mao Zedong and Joseph Stalin.
Her record-breaking reign straddled two centuries of seismic social, political and technological upheaval.
The last vestiges of Britain's vast empire crumbled. At home, Brexit shook the foundations of her kingdom, and her family endured a series of scandals.
But throughout, she remained consistently popular and was head of state not just of the United Kingdom but 14 former British colonies, including Australia and Canada.
New Zealand proclaimed Charles its new king. But Australia's new government looks set to revive a push to ditch the monarchy, casting doubt on his inheritance even as it mourns the queen.
Britain's mourning will culminate in a final public farewell at Westminster Abbey in London. The funeral day will be a public holiday in the form of a Day of National Mourning.
Charles's coronation, an elaborate ritual steeped in tradition and history, will take place in the same historic surroundings, as it has for centuries, on a date to be fixed.
On Saturday, his reign will be formally proclaimed by the Accession Council, which comprises senior politicians, bishops, City of London dignitaries and Commonwealth ambassadors.
In a statement, the new king described his mother as a "cherished sovereign" whose loss would "be deeply felt throughout the country, the Realms and the Commonwealth, and by countless people around the world".
"During this period of mourning and change, my family and I will be comforted and sustained by our knowledge of the respect and deep affection in which the queen was so widely held," Charles said.
While Charles automatically became king the moment his mother Queen Elizabeth II died, the coronation will not come until later as this deeply symbolic ceremony takes time to organise.
The coronation of a British sovereign is steeped in rituals dating back centuries.
Elizabeth II's coronation in 1953 came more than a year after she became queen upon the death of her father George VI.
Here is what to expect as Britain bids farewell to one monarch, and welcomes another:
- Period of mourning -
The coronation is separate from the Accession Council, which assembles in St James's Palace immediately upon the death of a monarch to formally proclaim the accession of the successor to the throne.
During the council, the monarch swears a sacred oath to the assembled "Lords Spiritual and Temporal of this Realm", declaring their Protestant faith, undertaking to maintain a Protestant succession, and promising to protect the Church of Scotland.
Preparations for the 10 days of official mourning will have already started, while her coffin, covered with the royal standard, lies in Balmoral Castle for staff to pay their respects.
It will then travel from Balmoral to Edinburgh to lie at rest in the throne room at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in the Scottish capital, before being brought to London on the Royal Train.
The queen's funeral will take place at Westminster Abbey, becoming the first British monarch to have her funeral in the famous church since 1760.
- Coronation ceremony -
The ceremony takes place at Westminster Abbey and is ministered by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the religious leader of the Anglican Church.
The archbishop introduces the new ruler to the audience, who applaud, before the sovereign then pronounces the oath of coronation.
In the oath, written in 1688, the monarch solemnly vows to govern the British people according to the laws passed in parliament, to enforce law and justice "with leniency", and to "do everything possible" to preserve the Anglican Church and the Protestant religion.
The archbishop then anoints the leader with consecrated oil, and blesses them in the throne of King Edward, which was made in 1300 and has been used at each coronation since 1626.
The sovereign finally receives his royal ornaments, including a sceptre and the crown, which is put in place by the archbishop.
- Coronation of the wife -
Unless otherwise decided, and if the new ruler is a man, his wife is proclaimed queen and crowned, following a similar but simplified ceremony.
She will become queen dowager (or queen mother if the previous queen dowager is still alive) on the death of the king, who will be succeeded by his first child, regardless of gender.
Queen Elizabeth II, in one of her last decisive acts for the succession, settled a long-running question about what Charles' wife, Camilla, will be called.
It had been intended she would become "princess consort", as she is not the new king's first wife, and also out of deference to Diana, princess of Wales, who was killed in a 1997 car crash.
But the queen said she gave her blessing for Camilla to become "queen consort".
- The Crown Jewels -
The United Kingdom still uses regalia -- costumes and ornaments such as sceptres and swords -- at coronation ceremonies.
The crown of St. Edward, made in 1661 for the coronation of Charles II, is traditionally used during the ceremony.
Made of gold, silver, rubies and sapphires, it weighs more than two kilograms (more than four pounds) and is placed on the monarch's head at the actual moment of crowning.
A lighter crown is worn when leaving the abbey. Composed of 2,868 diamonds, it was made in 1937 for the coronation of George VI and is also worn by the ruler at the annual opening of parliament.
- Guests -
In 1953, 8,251 guests from 181 countries and territories participated in the coronation of Elizabeth II.
Among them were many representatives of foreign monarchies but no European sovereigns, respecting a royal tradition.
After the ceremony, a long procession takes place in the streets of London.
Although Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace are less than a mile (1.6 kilometres) apart, the procession route stretched 7.2 kilometres in 1953 to allow as many people as possible to attend.
King Charles III to address UK as mourning begins for late queen