Too late to say goodbye: Prince Harry raced to join other royals at Balmoral AFTER announcement of Queen's passing - while Meghan stayed away
- The Duke of Sussex's jet landed at Aberdeen Airport after the announcement was made - he was alone
- He had been due to make a speech at the WellChild Awards in London tonight but cancelled the appearance
- Harry then raced up to Scotland as news of The Queen's deteriorating health broke as Meghan stayed behind
- The Queen's funeral: All the latest Royal Family news and coverage
Prince Harry has arrived at Balmoral - nearly an hour-and-a-half after the death of his grandmother, the Queen, was announced.
Buckingham Palace declared the passing of Britain's longest-serving monarch aged 96 at 6.30pm this evening.
But flight data shows the Duke of Sussex's jet was still in the air at the time, not touching down at the airport until nearly 15 minutes later. He was then seen in the back of a car leaving the site just after 7pm.
He then finally arrived at the Scottish estate at 7.52pm, where he will join other members of the Royal Family in mourning the Queen's death.
Harry headed to Balmoral alone, without his wife Meghan, having previously been due to attend the WellChild Awards in London this evening.
He was expected to make a speech at tonight's awards, which honours the brave deeds of seriously ill children, before he cancelled the appearance.
It is understood that Meghan may have remained in London, but will not attend the WellChild awards. The duchess could potentially join Harry in Scotland at a later date, a source said.
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Harry and Meghan had not been expected to see any other members of the Royal Family during their visit from California this week.
The last time the Sussexes saw The Queen was in June amid the celebrations for the Platinum Jubilee, when they introduced her to their daughter Lilibet - named in honour of Her Majesty's childhood nickname - for the first time.
King Charles, seen carrying a briefcase, took a royal helicopter to Balmoral from Dumfries House with his wife this morning. Princess Anne was already at Balmoral after an engagement this week.
A flight carrying seven members of the Royal household - including Prince William, Prince Andrew, Prince Edward and the Countess of Wessex - flew from RAF Northolt in London and landed at Aberdeen at 4pm.
The Duke of Cambridge took to the wheel of his Range Rover with his uncles and aunt on board amid deep concerns about Her Majesty's health earlier today.
It was confirmed that Her Majesty had died 'peacefully' at Balmoral this afternoon, at the age of 96.
A Buckingham Palace spokesman said: 'The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon. The King and The Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow'.
The Queen's death will see Britain and her Commonwealth realms enter into a ten-day period of mourning as millions of her subjects in the UK and abroad come to terms with her passing.
And as her son accedes to the throne, there will also be a celebration of her historic 70-year reign that saw her reach her Platinum Jubilee this year - a landmark unlikely to be reached again by a British monarch.
Charles, the King, said: 'The death of my beloved mother, Her Majesty The Queen, is a moment of the greatest sadness for me and all members of my family.
'We mourn profoundly the passing of a cherished sovereign and a much-loved mother. I know her loss will 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.'
The Queen's coffin will be moved to London on the royal train via Edinburgh before she lies in state in Westminster Hall in the Houses of Parliament for four days. Hundreds of thousands of people will be able to pay their respects.
The state funeral is expected take place at Westminster Abbey in central London on Monday, September 19, which will be attended by her bereft family as well as 2,000 heads of state, prime ministers and presidents, European royals and key figures from public life around the globe.
Flags will fly at half mast on UK Government buildings in tribute to the Queen from now until the morning after her funeral.
Guidance was issued by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) on the flying of official flags.
All such flags, which include Union Flags and any national flag, are to be 'half masted on all UK government buildings as soon as possible today until 0800 the day following the Queen's state funeral', the department said.
It advises that any non-official flags, which include for example the rainbow flag or Armed Forces flag, should be taken down and replaced with a Union Flag flying at half mast.
The Union flag on Buckingham Palace was at half mast on Thursday while a framed plaque announcing the Queen's death was placed on the front gates by royal household staff.
Similarly, flags at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh were lowered to half mast, along with those at the Scottish Parliament and at Scottish Government buildings.
Half mast means that flags are flown a third of the way down the flagpole, with at least the height of the flag between the top of the flag and the top of the pole.
The Royal Standard is never flown at half mast, even after the Queen's death, as there is always a monarch on the throne - with the role passing to her son the King.
Liz Truss stepped out of No 10 and to the podium on Downing Street at 7.07pm, dressed in black, to address the nation following the Queen's death.
Ms Truss was appointed as Prime Minister by the Queen at Balmoral only two days ago.
Liz Truss hailed the Queen, who appointed her as the 15th Prime Minister of her reign on Tuesday, said: 'Queen Elizabeth II was the rock on which modern Britain was built. Our country has grown and flourished under her reign. Britain is the great country it is today because of her.'
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer described the Queen as a 'remarkable sovereign', adding: 'It is a deep, private loss for the royal family and all our thoughts are with them at this time. The nation shares in their grief.
'We will always treasure Queen Elizabeth II's life of service and devotion to our nation and the Commonwealth; our longest-serving and greatest monarch.
'Above the clashes of politics, she stood not for what the nation fought over, but what it agreed upon. As Britain changed rapidly around her, this dedication became the still point of our turning world.
'So as our great Elizabethan era comes to an end, we will honour the late Queen's memory by keeping alive the values of public service she embodied.
'For 70 years, Queen Elizabeth II stood as the head of our country. But, in spirit, she stood amongst us.'
US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden said the Queen was 'more than a monarch' and that she 'defined an era'. A White House statement said: 'In a world of constant change, she was a steadying presence and a source of comfort and pride for generations of Britons, including many who have never known their country without her. She, in turn, dedicated her whole life to their service'.
The Queen's passing came more than a year after that of her beloved husband Philip, her 'strength and guide', who died aged 99 in April 2021.
Since his funeral, where she poignantly sat alone because of lockdown restrictions, her own health faltered, and she was forced to miss an increasing number of events mainly due to 'mobility problems' and tiredness.
Through such longevity Elizabeth inevitably experienced personal lows as well as great national highs, but won deeper admiration for the stoicism she showed in the face of adversity and her ability to remain untainted by scandals that occasionally engulfed her family.
She famously declared 1992 her 'annus horribilis', after it saw a devastating fire gut Windsor Castle and the marriages of her children Anne, Charles and Andrew all falter.
Five years later she steered the Crown through its gravest crisis since the abdication of her uncle, Edward VIII, when Princess Diana was killed in a Paris car crash.
And in the last years of her life she faced her grandson Harry exiting royal life and entering into a war of words with 'The Firm' after moving to California with wife Meghan rather than continue living in Frogmore Cottage in Windsor.
The Sussexes also carried out a bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021, and Harry is planning to release a tell-all book.
In January 2020 the Duke and Duchess of Sussex shocked the world by announcing their intention to step down as senior royals.
Buckingham Palace said all were 'saddened' by their decision to permanently step down as working royals, but they remained 'much loved members of the family'.
A statement added that the Queen had 'written confirming that in stepping away from the work of the Royal Family it is not possible to continue with the responsibilities and duties that come with a life of public service'.
But the Sussexes hit back with a statement of their own, saying: 'We can all live a life of service. Service is universal.'
Prince William, 40, is now heir to the throne of the United Kingdom after Prince Charles's accession and is expected to become the new Prince of Wales, with his wife Kate Middleton taking on the new title of the Princess of Wales.
William is the oldest royals among the top eight in line, and is followed by his three children Prince George, nine, Princess Charlotte, seven, and Prince Louis, four.
Following the Cambridges are Prince Harry, his children Archie and Lilibet, and then Prince Andrew and his two daughters Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie of York.
William has become a hugely popular member of the Royal Family in recent years, with his wedding to Kate in April 2011 watched by an estimated two billion people.
Technically, Charles's wife, Camilla Parker-Bowles, has been the Princess of Wales until now, but she has used the feminine equivalent of Charles's Duke of Cornwall title, the Duchess of Cornwall.
The Duchess of Cornwall is thought to not use the Princess of Wales title out of respect for Charles's ex-wife Princess Diana, who died in Paris in August 1997.
Camilla will now become Queen Consort after the Queen gave this approval.
Following the Queen's death, Charles also becomes head of the Commonwealth - and it has been claimed Harry will take a more active role in this.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex's son, Archie Mountbatten-Windsor, is now technically a prince following the death of the Queen - a title which Meghan controversially claimed was previously denied to him because of his race.
His younger sister, Lilibet 'Lili' Mountbatten-Windsor, is also entitled to be a princess following the death of the Queen and with her grandfather, the Prince of Wales, becoming King.
The rules set out by King George V in 1917 mean Archie and Lili - as the children of a son of a sovereign - also now have an HRH style if they choose to use it.
During the explosive Oprah Winfrey interview, Meghan Markle described her 'pain' as she claimed officials had denied Archie the title of prince and accused Buckingham Palace of failing to protect him by denying him 24/7 security.
When asked if it was 'important' for Meghan that Archie be called a prince, she said she doesn't have any attachment to the 'grandeur' of official titles.
But she said it was about 'the idea of our son not being safe, and also the idea of the first member of colour in this family not being titled in the same way that other grandchildren would be.'
Meghan argued in the Sussexes' bombshell interview with US talk show host Oprah Winfrey that Archie was not given the title of prince because of his race.
However, when Archie was born seventh in line to the throne in May 2019, he was too far down the line of succession.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were not thought to be visiting the Queen during their European tour this month.
On Tuesday they were in Dusseldorf, Germany, to mark a year before the next Invictus Games, where they were greeted by rapturous crowds of royalist enthusiasts, while today's schedule was intended to be focused on the Wellchild Awards.
The duke has served as a patron of Wellchild since 2007.
The couple's tour was the subject of mounting speculation about whether they would see other members of the Royal Family, in particular Harry's father Prince Charles and brother Prince William.
A royal insider said the two brothers had seen each other just twice in 12 months.
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