Death of Queen Elizabeth II: What happens now?

After the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was announced last night, the country is entering a period of mourning.

For the majority of people in the UK there has been no other monarch. Amidst a sea of change the Queen has remained the one constant.

But we now live in a country which has a king. Indeed, most of us alive today will almost certainly never see another queen, with male heirs set to dominate for the foreseeable future.

But what happens now? First of all King Charles III, as he will be officially referred to, will return from Balmoral in Scotland to London today with Camilla, the new Queen Consort.

The King is today expected to meet new Prime Minister Liz Truss – the pair both new to their jobs after this most tumultuous week in British history.

He will then address the grieving nation this evening.

The funeral of Queen Elizabeth II is expected to take place at Westminster Abbey in central London, with the likely date being Monday, September 19. It is likely to be declared a bank holiday.

Bosses will not be ordered to give their employees the day off, but it is expected that many will do so, as the official day of mourning will coincide with that of Her Majesty’s funeral.

Plans are also being drawn up to allow schools to close for the day.

Sporting fixtures today have been largely cancelled, including football matches, horse racing and golf.

There will also be no play on the scheduled second day of the cricket Test Match between England and South Africa in South London at The Oval today.

A decision on sporting fixtures for the weekend has yet to be made.

The BBC also reports that another major central London event has been cancelled – Thursday and Friday evening’s performances at The Proms, as well as Saturday’s traditional Last Night of the Proms.

And planned rail strikes for September 15 and 17 have been called off as a mark of respect, as have planned postal strikes, which were set for today.

There will be a remembrance service at St Paul’s Cathedral on Friday, attended by the Prime Minister and other senior ministers.

The Queen’s coffin will lie at rest at St Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh as she died in Scotland. The public may be allowed to file past after a few days.

The coffin will then be flown to London, where hundreds of thousands of people will be allowed to file past over a period of four days’ lying in state at Westminster Hall.

The union flag will be flown at half-mast on Government buildings until the morning after the funeral.

On Friday, bells will toll in tribute to the Queen at Westminster Abbey, St Paul’s Cathedral and Windsor Castle.

Gun salutes of 96 rounds to mark each year of her life will be fired in Hyde Park and elsewhere.

An online book of condolence has been opened for the public to sign by the Church of England here while messages can be passed to the Royal Family here.

The South London Press would love to hear your memories of the Queen and tributes to her. Please contact our news editor James Twomey at james@slpmedia.co.uk or call him on 0203 947 8342.

Pictured top: Queen Elizabeth II waits in the Drawing Room before receiving Liz Truss for an audience at Balmoral, Scotland, where she invited the newly-elected leader of the Conservative party to become Prime Minister and form a new Government on Tuesday (Picture: PA)