BREAKING: Queen Elizabeth Dies At 96, Ending An Era For Britain

Queen Elizabeth, Britain’s longest-reigning monarch and the nation’s figurehead for seven decades, died at her home in Scotland aged 96 on Thursday.

“The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon,” Buckingham Palace said in a statement. “The King and The Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow.”

Elizabeth’s eldest son Charles, 73, automatically becomes king of the United Kingdom and the head of state of 14 other realms including Australia, Canada and New Zealand. His wife Camilla becomes Queen Consort.

Tony Blair, who served as Britain’s prime minister for one decade of the Queen’s 70-year reign, has said “it was our great good fortune to have her reign over us.”

“We have lost not just our monarch but the matriarch of our nation, the figure who more than any other brought our country together, kept us in touch with our better nature, personified everything which makes us proud to be British,” Blair wrote.

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