The tourism sector in UK seems to be doing brisk business as thousands of people are flocking to London from all around the world to pay their final respects to Queen Elizabeth II.&nbsp;

According to Reuters news agency, the average rate for a hotel in London increased to $384 per night from $244 per night since the announcement of her death.

A London-based group-booking platform, Hotelplanner.com, has said that the occupancy levels could breach an all-time high of 95 per cent as more people are expected to pay tribute to the queen in the four days that her body lies in state ahead of her funeral on Monday.

It added that more than 60 per cent of travellers are from foreign countries.

Till Sunday night, many high-end hotels - Claridge's, the Connaught, The Dorchester, and the Berkeley in the upmarket Mayfair district - were sold out, Reuters said citing their websites.

“That’s not surprising when you consider that the eyes of the world really are on the capital and the media, dignitaries and members of the public, just like myself, who just want to be part of such a historic occasion,” Thomas Emanuel, senior director of hotel analytics firm STR, told AP news agency.

Apart from that, a weaker pound is also drawing people from abroad, providing much-needed respite to restaurants, pubs and museums who are still recovering from Covid pandemic and record levels of inflation.

“Speaking to our hospitality sector, not just our hotels, but restaurants, bars and pubs, they’ve had an awful three years because of this pandemic," London Mayor Sadiq Khan told AP news agency.

Experts argue that the spurt in footfall as a result of the mourning period could be limited, because a public holiday has been declared on Monday where supermarkets, retailers, hardware stores and other businesses have been ordered to close for the funeral.

(With inputs from agencies)

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The tourism sector in UK seems to be doing brisk business as thousands of people are flocking to London from all around the world to pay their final respects to Queen Elizabeth II.

The tourism sector in UK seems to be doing brisk business as thousands of people are flocking to London from all around the world to pay their final respects to Queen Elizabeth II. According to Reuters news agency, the average rate for a hotel in London increased to $384 per night from $244 per night since the announcement of her death. A London-based group-booking platform, Hotelplanner.com, has said that the occupancy levels could breach an all-time high of 95 per cent as more people are expected to pay tribute to the queen in the four days that her body lies in state ahead of her funeral on Monday. It added that more than 60 per cent of travellers are from foreign countries. Till Sunday night, many high-end hotels - Claridge's, the Connaught, The Dorchester, and the Berkeley in the upmarket Mayfair district - were sold out, Reuters said citing their websites. “That’s not surprising when you consider that the eyes of the world really are on the capital and the media, dignitaries and members of the public, just like myself, who just want to be part of such a historic occasion,” Thomas Emanuel, senior director of hotel analytics firm STR, told AP news agency. Apart from that, a weaker pound is also drawing people from abroad, providing much-needed respite to restaurants, pubs and museums who are still recovering from Covid pandemic and record levels of inflation. “Speaking to our hospitality sector, not just our hotels, but restaurants, bars and pubs, they’ve had an awful three years because of this pandemic," London Mayor Sadiq Khan told AP news agency. Experts argue that the spurt in footfall as a result of the mourning period could be limited, because a public holiday has been declared on Monday where supermarkets, retailers, hardware stores and other businesses have been ordered to close for the funeral. (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE:

Queen's mourning draws heavy foreign visitors, boosts UK tourism

A scaled-back London Fashion Week opened with catwalk shows on Friday but without after-show parties following the death of Queen Elizabeth II and with a pause planned for her funeral next week.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/queen-elizabeth-iis-funeral-live-updates-515646">Queen Elizabeth II's funeral updates&nbsp;</a>

The twice-yearly event had planned to get fully back on track after two years of Covid disruption that predicated virtual shows.

But the death of the queen, aged 96, on September 8 has seen the industry showpiece scaled-back, with high-fashion brands including Burberry and Raf Simons cancelling their shows.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/prince-harry-receives-authorisation-to-wear-military-uniform-at-queen-elizabeth-iis-vigil-516937" hreflang="en">King Charles III authorised Prince Harry to wear military uniform at vigil</a>

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Day one of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/LFW?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#LFW</a> presented by <a href="https://twitter.com/Clearpay_UK?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Clearpay_UK</a> September 2022 has begun, with shows from Edward Crutchley, Temperley London, SOHUMAN, Daniel Fletcher, Bora Aksu, Paul Costelloe and <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BFCNEWGEN?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BFCNEWGEN</a> designer Leo Carlton. Discover the LFW designers via <a href="https://t.co/xTzFa5b7Fl">https://t.co/xTzFa5b7Fl</a>. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/LFWClearpay?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#LFWClearpay</a> <a href="https://t.co/0RD95lJiOW">pic.twitter.com/0RD95lJiOW</a>
— London Fashion Week (@LondonFashionWk) <a href="https://twitter.com/LondonFashionWk/status/1570798601227620352?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 16, 2022</a></blockquote>
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"We are in a period of national mourning," Caroline Rush, chief executive of the British Fashion Council, which organises the event, told AFP.

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Having spoken to designers and industry members, we as an industry want to unite as a creative and business community to celebrate Her Majesty's legacy and commitment to creativity and design.
— London Fashion Week (@LondonFashionWk) <a href="https://twitter.com/LondonFashionWk/status/1569603330191638530?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 13, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Rush noted the importance of being "very mindful... of what's happening in the country and of course, recognising the passing of our monarch, who has been a fantastic champion of our industry for so many years".

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As a business-to-business event London Fashion Week will continue while observing Royal Protocol and the event will be dedicated to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II with our own moments of respect.
— London Fashion Week (@LondonFashionWk) <a href="https://twitter.com/LondonFashionWk/status/1569603328534773760?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 13, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Britain will hold a minute's silence on Sunday at 1900 GMT and LFW plans to take part.

The queen, seen as a fashion icon during her 70 years on the throne, launched the QEII Award for British Design at LFW in 2018, presenting Richard Quinn with the inaugural award.

With parties postponed, this season's London event will focus on the business side of securing orders for the clothes featured on the runway for next spring.

Shows that had been scheduled for Monday, when Britain will hold a state funeral for the late queen, have, where possible, been postponed until Tuesday.

Quinn will close out the catwalk schedule on Tuesday.

"That image of when the queen came to London Fashion Week was actually at Richard's first fashion show and it was a fantastic way to celebrate his brilliant creativity and the impact he was already having back then in 2018," Rush said.

A scaled-back London Fashion Week opened with catwalk shows on Friday but without after-show parties following the death of Queen Elizabeth II and with a pause planned for her funeral next week.

A scaled-back London Fashion Week opened with catwalk shows on Friday but without after-show parties following the death of Queen Elizabeth II and with a pause planned for her funeral next week. Queen Elizabeth II's funeral updates The twice-yearly event had planned to get fully back on track after two years of Covid disruption that predicated virtual shows. But the death of the queen, aged 96, on September 8 has seen the industry showpiece scaled-back, with high-fashion brands including Burberry and Raf Simons cancelling their shows. King Charles III authorised Prince Harry to wear military uniform at vigil Day one of #LFW presented by @Clearpay_UK September 2022 has begun, with shows from Edward Crutchley, Temperley London, SOHUMAN, Daniel Fletcher, Bora Aksu, Paul Costelloe and #BFCNEWGEN designer Leo Carlton. Discover the LFW designers via https://t.co/xTzFa5b7Fl. #LFWClearpay pic.twitter.com/0RD95lJiOW — London Fashion Week (@LondonFashionWk) September 16, 2022 × "We are in a period of national mourning," Caroline Rush, chief executive of the British Fashion Council, which organises the event, told AFP. Having spoken to designers and industry members, we as an industry want to unite as a creative and business community to celebrate Her Majesty's legacy and commitment to creativity and design. — London Fashion Week (@LondonFashionWk) September 13, 2022 × Rush noted the importance of being "very mindful... of what's happening in the country and of course, recognising the passing of our monarch, who has been a fantastic champion of our industry for so many years". As a business-to-business event London Fashion Week will continue while observing Royal Protocol and the event will be dedicated to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II with our own moments of respect. — London Fashion Week (@LondonFashionWk) September 13, 2022 × Britain will hold a minute's silence on Sunday at 1900 GMT and LFW plans to take part. The queen, seen as a fashion icon during her 70 years on the throne, launched the QEII Award for British Design at LFW in 2018, presenting Richard Quinn with the inaugural award. With parties postponed, this season's London event will focus on the business side of securing orders for the clothes featured on the runway for next spring. Shows that had been scheduled for Monday, when Britain will hold a state funeral for the late queen, have, where possible, been postponed until Tuesday. Quinn will close out the catwalk schedule on Tuesday. "That image of when the queen came to London Fashion Week was actually at Richard's first fashion show and it was a fantastic way to celebrate his brilliant creativity and the impact he was already having back then in 2018," Rush said.

London Fashion Week opens in mourning for queen

WION's Jodie Cohen speaks to Charles Green, who was the former official investiture photographer for Queen Elizabeth II. During the conversation Green told that, Queen was a caring, wonderful person and was interested in everybody she spoke to.

WION Exclusive: Charles Green talks about time he spent photographing Queen Elizabeth II

From India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi releasing eight Cheetas in Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park on his birthday to people assembling outside Windsor Castle to pay their respects to Queen Elizabeth, here are some impactful images from around the world on 17 September 2022.

World in Pictures: PM Modi releases 8 Cheetahs in MP's Kuno; People pay respects to Queen Elizabeth

China has been royally snubbed by the UK. A Chinese delegation has been banned from seeing Queen Elizabeth's coffin. Tory MPs also plan to withdraw an invitation to Xi Jinping for the Queen's funeral. Why? Priyanka Sharma explains.

Gravitas: Chinese delegation banned from seeing Queen's coffin

It's not a piece of cake being the Queen's guards. Well, in this case the King's guards now. From Changing of Guards to wearing a bearskin hat, these are some of the rules that the King's guards must follow.

Five rules the Queen's royal guards must follow

Russia is fuming over the United Kingdom's decision to not send an invitation for Queen Elizabeth's funeral. Calling the move 'blasphemous', Russian foreign ministry alleged that Britain was trying to 'settle scores'.

"We see this British attempt to use the national tragedy, which has touched the hearts of millions of people around the world, for geopolitical purposes to settle scores with our country... as deeply immoral," foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement, "this is particularly blasphemous towards Elizabeth II's memory."

Relations between the UK and Russia have soured ever since Russia invaded Ukraine. The invasion started February 24 this year. Russia calls the invasion 'special military operation'. In the aftermath of the invasion, European Union and the UK joined USA in imposing several rounds of economic sanctions on Russia. This has, in part, limited Russia's ability to fund its military effort in Ukraine.

Queen Elizabeth the Second passed away on September 8. Her funeral is schduled to take place on September 19. The funeral is showing signs to be a major political and diplomatic event as hundreds of dignitaries and global leaders in attendance.&nbsp;

Queen Elizabeth's coffin is lying in state in Westminster Hall in London. Her passing has led to outpouring of emotion in UK and in countries across the world.

(With inputs from agencies)

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Russia is fuming over the United Kingdom's decision to not send an invitation for Queen Elizabeth's funeral. Calling the move 'blasphemous', Russian foreign ministry alleged that Britain was trying to 'settle scores'.

Russia is fuming over the United Kingdom's decision to not send an invitation for Queen Elizabeth's funeral. Calling the move 'blasphemous', Russian foreign ministry alleged that Britain was trying to 'settle scores'. "We see this British attempt to use the national tragedy, which has touched the hearts of millions of people around the world, for geopolitical purposes to settle scores with our country... as deeply immoral," foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement, "this is particularly blasphemous towards Elizabeth II's memory." Relations between the UK and Russia have soured ever since Russia invaded Ukraine. The invasion started February 24 this year. Russia calls the invasion 'special military operation'. In the aftermath of the invasion, European Union and the UK joined USA in imposing several rounds of economic sanctions on Russia. This has, in part, limited Russia's ability to fund its military effort in Ukraine. Queen Elizabeth the Second passed away on September 8. Her funeral is schduled to take place on September 19. The funeral is showing signs to be a major political and diplomatic event as hundreds of dignitaries and global leaders in attendance. Queen Elizabeth's coffin is lying in state in Westminster Hall in London. Her passing has led to outpouring of emotion in UK and in countries across the world. (With inputs from agencies) You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here. WATCH WION LIVE HERE ×

Russia fumes as it is not invited for Queen Elizabeth's funeral

Endless live TV feeds, analysts picking apart each gesture: Queen Elizabeth II’s death has been covered from every angle by the world’s media. But the blanket coverage may only encourage people to turn off the news entirely.

WION Fineprint | Queen Elizabeth's News Coverage Adding Fuel To "Infobesity"

Queen Elizabeth II's coffin is lying in state at Westminster Hall ahead of the state funeral for her on Monday. Later on Monday her body will return to Windsor Castle to be buried in the grounds of the castle.

UK: Thousands line up to pay respect to the queen, Macron to attend funeral

Hong Kongers have been coming out in large numbers to pay tribute to British Queen Elizabeth II who passed away on September 8. This is being touted to be biggest display of affection for the monarch outside UK and in former British colonies. The city has seen long queues and piles of flowers, even British and colonial flags as people thronged to honour the Queen from a monarchy that no longer rules the city.

Hong Kongers were seen standing in queues even in sweltering heat outside British Consulate General. Some people have been seen to be visibly upset as they laid floral tributes. They are writing in a book of condolence which will be available until Friday (September 16).

"I don't remember ever seeing Hong Kongers doing this to any leader who passed away," Ted Hui, a former Hong Kong MP said as quoted by the BBC.

Hong Kong was a British colony. The Queen visited Hong Kong twice. The city, a major business hub, was handed over to China under a promise of 'One country two systems'. The civil liberties under the British rule, unavailable in mainland China, were to be preserved at least for 50 years.&nbsp;

However, Chinese moves to assert greater control over the affairs in the city are being seen as promise unkept. Many pro-demicracy politicians have fled the city, pro-democracy media houses like Apple Daily have been forced by the authorities to shut down.

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Hong Kongers have been coming out in large numbers to pay tribute to British Queen Elizabeth II who passed away on September 8. This is being touted to be biggest display of affection for the monarch outside UK and in former British colonies.

Hong Kongers have been coming out in large numbers to pay tribute to British Queen Elizabeth II who passed away on September 8. This is being touted to be biggest display of affection for the monarch outside UK and in former British colonies. The city has seen long queues and piles of flowers, even British and colonial flags as people thronged to honour the Queen from a monarchy that no longer rules the city. Hong Kongers were seen standing in queues even in sweltering heat outside British Consulate General. Some people have been seen to be visibly upset as they laid floral tributes. They are writing in a book of condolence which will be available until Friday (September 16). "I don't remember ever seeing Hong Kongers doing this to any leader who passed away," Ted Hui, a former Hong Kong MP said as quoted by the BBC. Hong Kong was a British colony. The Queen visited Hong Kong twice. The city, a major business hub, was handed over to China under a promise of 'One country two systems'. The civil liberties under the British rule, unavailable in mainland China, were to be preserved at least for 50 years. However, Chinese moves to assert greater control over the affairs in the city are being seen as promise unkept. Many pro-demicracy politicians have fled the city, pro-democracy media houses like Apple Daily have been forced by the authorities to shut down. You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here. WATCH WION LIVE HERE ×

Message to Beijing? Hong Kongers come out in large numbers for Queen Elizabeth

Queen Elizabeth II, the longest ruling monarch in British history, passed away on September 8 at the age of 96. She will be laid to rest at Westminster Abbey on September 19 and the funeral will be attended by major leaders from all around the world. It will also be the first state funeral in the United Kingdom since the death of Prime Minister Winston Churchill back in 1965.&nbsp;

While the invitations have been sent to all world leaders, six countries were excluded from the list. &nbsp;

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/queen-elizabeth-iis-funeral-live-updates-515646">LIVE | French President Macron to attend Queen Elizabeth II's funeral</a>

The New York Times reported on Thursday that Russia, Belarus, Myanmar, Venezuela, Syria and Afghanistan will not be receiving any invitation to the royal funeral. The step was taken considering the current political climate and the relationship that UK shares with these nations.&nbsp;

The United Kingdom, along with other western countries, criticised Russia for its ongoing invasion of Ukraine and it came as no surprise that President Vladimir Putin did not receive an invite to the funeral. Belarus was also excluded from the guest list considering their alliance with Russia.&nbsp;

When it comes to Syria and Venezuela, the UK has no diplomatic relationship with both these nations while Afghanistan and Syria were excluded after considering current political situations.&nbsp;

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/russian-president-putin-survives-assassination-attempt-report-516404" hreflang="en">Russian President Putin survives assassination attempt: Report&nbsp;</a>

Three countries – North Korea, Nicaragua and Iran – were sent invitations but only on the ambassadorial level. It means that the head of the states were not invited.&nbsp;

Several world leaders have already confirmed their attendance at the royal funeral with United States President Joe Biden, Canada’s Justin Trudeau and France’s Emmanuel Macron all travelling to the UK.&nbsp;

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Queen Elizabeth II, the longest ruling monarch in British history, passed away on September 8 at the age of 96. She will be laid to rest at Westminster Abbey on September 19 and the funeral will be attended by major leaders from all around the world.

Queen Elizabeth II, the longest ruling monarch in British history, passed away on September 8 at the age of 96. She will be laid to rest at Westminster Abbey on September 19 and the funeral will be attended by major leaders from all around the world. It will also be the first state funeral in the United Kingdom since the death of Prime Minister Winston Churchill back in 1965. While the invitations have been sent to all world leaders, six countries were excluded from the list. Also read | LIVE | French President Macron to attend Queen Elizabeth II's funeral The New York Times reported on Thursday that Russia, Belarus, Myanmar, Venezuela, Syria and Afghanistan will not be receiving any invitation to the royal funeral. The step was taken considering the current political climate and the relationship that UK shares with these nations. The United Kingdom, along with other western countries, criticised Russia for its ongoing invasion of Ukraine and it came as no surprise that President Vladimir Putin did not receive an invite to the funeral. Belarus was also excluded from the guest list considering their alliance with Russia. When it comes to Syria and Venezuela, the UK has no diplomatic relationship with both these nations while Afghanistan and Syria were excluded after considering current political situations. Also read | Russian President Putin survives assassination attempt: Report Three countries – North Korea, Nicaragua and Iran – were sent invitations but only on the ambassadorial level. It means that the head of the states were not invited. Several world leaders have already confirmed their attendance at the royal funeral with United States President Joe Biden, Canada’s Justin Trudeau and France’s Emmanuel Macron all travelling to the UK.

Six countries not invited for Queen Elizabeth II's funeral - See complete list

Queen Elizabeth II is no more. The late Queen's coffin was carried on a gun carriage from Buckingham Palace to Westminster hall. She will lie in state at the hall for four days King Charles and his sons followed behind the coffin in silence as she was being carried to the Westminster hall.

King Charles and sons accompany coffin, UK's famous big ben bell tolled during procession | WION

There were few signs of public grief or even interest in her death across the continent, where many still hold Britain responsible for colonial actions that drew much of the region’s borders and laid the groundwork for many of its modern conflicts. There is a lingering “spiritual connection” in some African countries, from the colonial experience to the commonwealth. “It is a moment of pain, a moment of nostalgia".

World of Africa | The empire's oppressive legacy

The accession of King Charles III to the throne has caused many changes in UK. The UK had a Queen for seven decades and now has&nbsp;a King. The national anthem has changed from 'God save the Queen' to 'God save the King'. King Charles becoming the monarch has caused major changes in the royal bureaucracy as well.

The Queen's Counsel will now become King's Counsel.&nbsp;There is not one person on this post. About 1900 elite UK lawyers and hundreds of others in the Commonwealth held the rank of 'Queen's Counsel'. Now these men and women will be called 'King's Counsel', a title that was gathering dust since Queen Elizabeth took the throne in 1952.

From now on, these lawyers will use the shorthand KC rather than QC on their letterheads and other materials, according to the Bar Council.

"The change of our names will be a constant reminder that the Queen has gone," said London-based King's Counsel Lord Peter Goldsmith, a partner at law firm Debevoise &amp; Plimpton and who was the United Kingdom's attorney general from 2001 to 2007.

There are practical ramifications as well. Lawyers took to social media soon after the queen's death describing a scramble to update profiles on law firm websites and discussing the cost of new stationery — alongside many references to the disco and funk music group KC and the Sunshine Band.

"It will certainly take some time to get used to 'KC'," said Jeffrey Sullivan, a London-based partner at Gibson, Dunn &amp; Crutcher and King's Counsel. "I imagine there will be a few slip ups over the next few months as lawyers, judges and clients adjust to the new title."

Also Read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/king-charles-staff-receive-redundancy-notice-before-moving-to-buckingham-palace-516023">King Charles’ staff receive redundancy notice before moving to Buckingham Palace</a> 
 
The rank is not well known in the US but is a familiar thing in Commonwealth countries like Australia and New Zealand and others. The title is reserved for senior and highly respected lawyers.

Those who hold the title in Britain are informally called "silks" — a reference to the special silk gowns they wear in court along with the traditional wigs sported by many barristers. They are appointed by the Crown following a years-long application process.

King's Counsel enjoys several informal privileges, including front-row seats in court. They also tend to charge more for their services.

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The accession of King Charles III to the throne has caused many changes in UK. The UK had a Queen for seven decades and now has a King. The national anthem has changed from 'God save the Queen' to 'God save the King'.

The accession of King Charles III to the throne has caused many changes in UK. The UK had a Queen for seven decades and now has a King. The national anthem has changed from 'God save the Queen' to 'God save the King'. King Charles becoming the monarch has caused major changes in the royal bureaucracy as well. The Queen's Counsel will now become King's Counsel. There is not one person on this post. About 1900 elite UK lawyers and hundreds of others in the Commonwealth held the rank of 'Queen's Counsel'. Now these men and women will be called 'King's Counsel', a title that was gathering dust since Queen Elizabeth took the throne in 1952. From now on, these lawyers will use the shorthand KC rather than QC on their letterheads and other materials, according to the Bar Council. "The change of our names will be a constant reminder that the Queen has gone," said London-based King's Counsel Lord Peter Goldsmith, a partner at law firm Debevoise & Plimpton and who was the United Kingdom's attorney general from 2001 to 2007. There are practical ramifications as well. Lawyers took to social media soon after the queen's death describing a scramble to update profiles on law firm websites and discussing the cost of new stationery — alongside many references to the disco and funk music group KC and the Sunshine Band. "It will certainly take some time to get used to 'KC'," said Jeffrey Sullivan, a London-based partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and King's Counsel. "I imagine there will be a few slip ups over the next few months as lawyers, judges and clients adjust to the new title." Also Read | King Charles’ staff receive redundancy notice before moving to Buckingham Palace The rank is not well known in the US but is a familiar thing in Commonwealth countries like Australia and New Zealand and others. The title is reserved for senior and highly respected lawyers. Those who hold the title in Britain are informally called "silks" — a reference to the special silk gowns they wear in court along with the traditional wigs sported by many barristers. They are appointed by the Crown following a years-long application process. King's Counsel enjoys several informal privileges, including front-row seats in court. They also tend to charge more for their services. You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here. WATCH WION LIVE HERE ×

'King's Counsel' makes a return after 70 years in UK courts

King Charles former senior advisor, Elizabeth Buchanan spoke to WION and described her memories with the Queen and stated what are her expectations from the new king. She said that she has two fond memories of the Queen - first that she was invited to the lunch at Buckingham Palace and second was when she was working full time for the Prince of Wales.

Former Sr Advisor to King Charles, Elizabeth Buchanan speaks to WION

Several employees at Clarence House in London – the former residence of King Charles III – were given notice of their redundancies after the death of Queen Elizabeth III. Around 100 employees will end up losing their jobs as both the King and the Queen Consort will soon be moving to Buckingham Palace.&nbsp;

According to The Guardian, the people who receive the notification were mainly “private secretaries, the finance office, the communications team and household staff”. The message was conveyed to them during the thanksgiving service for the Queen, at St Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh on Monday.&nbsp;

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/shanghai-cooperation-organisation-sco-summit-live-updates-515964">SCO Summit LIVE | Xi Jinping to meet Putin, no clarity on India-China talks</a>

This came as a shock for most employees of the Clarence House as they expected that most of the workforce will shift to Birmingham Palace along with the King. “Everybody is absolutely livid, including private secretaries and the senior team. All the staff have been working late every night since Thursday, to be met with this. People were visibly shaken by it,” a source told The Guardian.&nbsp;

The official communication came from Sir Clive Alderton, the King’s top aide, as he said that only the “direct, close, personal support and advice” to the King and Queen Consort will retain their positions.&nbsp;

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/twitter-shareholders-accept-elon-musks-44-billion-acquisition-proposal-515961">Twitter shareholders accept Elon Musk's $44 billion acquisition proposal</a>

The staff members will be given the choice to work at other royal residences around the country and in case of any redundancies, they will also receive severance payment and recommendation letters.&nbsp;

“Following last week’s accession, the operations of the household of the former Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall have ceased and as required by law, a consultation process has begun. Our staff have given long and loyal service and, while some redundancies will be unavoidable, we are working urgently to identify alternative roles for the greatest number of staff,” a&nbsp;Clarence House spokesman said.&nbsp;&nbsp;

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Several employees at Clarence House in London – the former residence of King Charles III – were given notice of their redundancies after the death of Queen Elizabeth III.

Several employees at Clarence House in London – the former residence of King Charles III – were given notice of their redundancies after the death of Queen Elizabeth III. Around 100 employees will end up losing their jobs as both the King and the Queen Consort will soon be moving to Buckingham Palace. According to The Guardian, the people who receive the notification were mainly “private secretaries, the finance office, the communications team and household staff”. The message was conveyed to them during the thanksgiving service for the Queen, at St Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh on Monday. Also read | SCO Summit LIVE | Xi Jinping to meet Putin, no clarity on India-China talks This came as a shock for most employees of the Clarence House as they expected that most of the workforce will shift to Birmingham Palace along with the King. “Everybody is absolutely livid, including private secretaries and the senior team. All the staff have been working late every night since Thursday, to be met with this. People were visibly shaken by it,” a source told The Guardian. The official communication came from Sir Clive Alderton, the King’s top aide, as he said that only the “direct, close, personal support and advice” to the King and Queen Consort will retain their positions. Also read | Twitter shareholders accept Elon Musk's $44 billion acquisition proposal The staff members will be given the choice to work at other royal residences around the country and in case of any redundancies, they will also receive severance payment and recommendation letters. “Following last week’s accession, the operations of the household of the former Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall have ceased and as required by law, a consultation process has begun. Our staff have given long and loyal service and, while some redundancies will be unavoidable, we are working urgently to identify alternative roles for the greatest number of staff,” a Clarence House spokesman said.

King Charles’ staff receive redundancy notice before moving to Buckingham Palace

The protocols for the funeral of Britain's longest-serving monarch, Queen Elizabeth, are very strict as there are concerns about the security and the environment, too. The world leaders are urged to take commercial flights to the UK to attend the funeral.

Queen Elizabeth's state funeral: What to expect? | WION Climate Tracker

World leaders preparing to attend Queen Elizabeth II's funeral ceremony at Westminster Abbey have reportedly been informed of the strict protocol that will be in place. According to reports, all international heads of state and their spouses planning to arrive in London for the State Funeral have been asked to arrive on commercial flights rather than private jets and have also been asked not to use helicopters to get around.

No private jets or helicopters allowed at Queen Elizabeth II's funeral ceremony

Elizabeth is majestic, hardy and "very fashionable", said a top Singapore flower curator—referring not to the late monarch, but to an orchid named after the queen when she visited the former British colony.

After Queen Elizabeth II's death last week, the city-state's Botanic Gardens loaned a towering sprig of Dendrobium Elizabeth to the British high commissioner's residence, to be displayed alongside pictures of the monarch.

The&nbsp;orchid&nbsp;hybrid, with twisted Dresden-yellow petals and a uranium-green lip, was named in honour of the queen when she visited Singapore in 1972, said Whang Lay Keng, curator at Singapore's National Orchid Garden.

"Dendrobium Elizabeth is a majestic, robust and resilient plant," she told AFP.

"It's kind of like how Queen Elizabeth carried herself."

Flowering just twice a year, the Dendrobium Elizabeth was bred from orchids originating from Singapore and Papua New Guinea, and carries just about 40 blooms per plant.

Orchid-mad Singapore boasts the delicate, colorful blooms as their national flower, and the city-state often christens new hybrids after visiting dignitaries as part of its diplomatic charm offensive.

The tradition took root in 1957 during British colonial rule—which spanned more than 140 years—when an orchid variety was named after the wife of London's high commissioner to Singapore at the time.

Queen Elizabeth first made a state visit to Singapore in 1972, followed by two more trips in 1989 and 2006.

"During the 1970s, the colour yellow-green was very popular, so naturally we wanted to select something that was fashionable and very interesting," Whang said, adding that "yellow is a colour of royalty".

But the tropical lowland orchid also has very distinct Southeast Asian traits.

It is a "sun-loving plant that thrives in a moist and humid climate, where sunlight and warmth are important for its growth", the orchid curator said.

Among the more than 200 orchid hybrids named after visiting leaders and celebrities—displayed in the VIP section of the city's sprawling Botanic Gardens—there is also the Dendrobium Memoria Princess Diana. The pastel-white bloom was so dubbed after the death of the princess of Wales.

Elizabeth is majestic, hardy and "very fashionable", said a top Singapore flower curator—referring not to the late monarch, but to an orchid named after the queen when she visited the former British colony.

Elizabeth is majestic, hardy and "very fashionable", said a top Singapore flower curator—referring not to the late monarch, but to an orchid named after the queen when she visited the former British colony. After Queen Elizabeth II's death last week, the city-state's Botanic Gardens loaned a towering sprig of Dendrobium Elizabeth to the British high commissioner's residence, to be displayed alongside pictures of the monarch. The orchid hybrid, with twisted Dresden-yellow petals and a uranium-green lip, was named in honour of the queen when she visited Singapore in 1972, said Whang Lay Keng, curator at Singapore's National Orchid Garden. "Dendrobium Elizabeth is a majestic, robust and resilient plant," she told AFP. "It's kind of like how Queen Elizabeth carried herself." Flowering just twice a year, the Dendrobium Elizabeth was bred from orchids originating from Singapore and Papua New Guinea, and carries just about 40 blooms per plant. Orchid-mad Singapore boasts the delicate, colorful blooms as their national flower, and the city-state often christens new hybrids after visiting dignitaries as part of its diplomatic charm offensive. The tradition took root in 1957 during British colonial rule—which spanned more than 140 years—when an orchid variety was named after the wife of London's high commissioner to Singapore at the time. Queen Elizabeth first made a state visit to Singapore in 1972, followed by two more trips in 1989 and 2006. "During the 1970s, the colour yellow-green was very popular, so naturally we wanted to select something that was fashionable and very interesting," Whang said, adding that "yellow is a colour of royalty". But the tropical lowland orchid also has very distinct Southeast Asian traits. It is a "sun-loving plant that thrives in a moist and humid climate, where sunlight and warmth are important for its growth", the orchid curator said. Among the more than 200 orchid hybrids named after visiting leaders and celebrities—displayed in the VIP section of the city's sprawling Botanic Gardens—there is also the Dendrobium Memoria Princess Diana. The pastel-white bloom was so dubbed after the death of the princess of Wales.

A majestic Singapore orchid named in honour of Queen Elizabeth

Queen Elizabeth's coffin will be flown to London on Tuesday and once it reaches there it will be taken to Buckinhgham Palace. It will be taken on a gun carriage as a part of a grand military procession to Westminster Hall. The coffin will lay at the Parliament's compound for four days straight to allow the British public to pay their tributes.

Queen Elizabeth's coffin to be flown to London, will be taken to Buckingham Palace

Thousands of people gathered in Edinburgh to bid the final goodbye to Queen Elizabeth. King Charles led the procession to an Edinburgh cathedral for the prayer service. Queen Elizabeth's children also walked behind her coffin in the royal procession.

Bidding final goodbye: King Charles leads Queen Elizabeth's procession to Edinburgh cathedral

She died in her happy place. It was a photograph of herself and Prince Philip at Balmoral, wrapped in a tartan picnic blanket beside the hills of her beloved Loch Muick, that she chose to release on the eve of his funeral last year. Balmoral is where it is said he proposed to her and where, throughout her life, she spent contented summer months unassailed, except by her own family.

I am told Her Majesty had made it quietly known that it was her hope she would die in Scotland and had increased the amount of time she spent there to better her chances. The woman who had given so much of her life to public duty was trying to ensure that her last moments were spent in the most private of her royal estates.

She planned well. The final days of her reign had a satisfying sense of completion. After making it through her Platinum Jubilee marking 70 years on the throne in June, she lived long enough to kiss off her 14th prime minister, Boris Johnson, and welcome her 15th to form Her Majesty’s government. From Winston Churchill to Liz Truss. One would love to know — and never will — what the privately astringent Queen Elizabeth thought about this particular arc of political history.

How we will miss not knowing what she thought! In a time when everyone has opinions, the queen adhered to the discipline of never revealing hers. However accomplished King Charles III turns out to be, he will never have his mother’s mystique because we know far too much about him. The queen was lucky to begin her reign in an era of press deference to the royals and smart enough to grant a formal interview only once, for a BBC documentary about the coronation. Her small talk to strangers was thrillingly pedestrian. When she pinned on my lapel the medal of the Commander of the British Empire for services to overseas journalism as editor of Vanity Fair and The New Yorker, I will forever remember what she said in the cut-glass tones of an everlasting British teatime. “So. Are you here now or over there?” “Over there, ma’am,” I replied. “Oh,” she said and moved to the next star-struck honoree, the author Timothy Garton Ash.

That perennial poker face of hers was strategic, a constitutional tool. As one of her former aides told me, “Because she spent her entire life being such a closed book, people project onto her whatever they want to become.” The aftermath of Diana’s death was a rare time the queen’s perfect pitch could not meet the hour. The emblematic role of monarch that she had been trained to play — simply to be — was suddenly not enough for a grieving nation demanding something she had never been required to show before: emotion.

The saving words in her reluctant television address acknowledging her wayward former daughter-in-law’s unique contribution were, “What I say to you now, as your Queen and as a grandmother, I say from my heart.” The grandmother phrase was written by Downing Street.

The British public soon forgave her. There was never any serious movement in England during her reign to get rid of the monarchy. Standing above brawling partisan power, she alone could unite the nation in times of national joy or anxiety. During the challenging enforced separations of the pandemic, the contrast between the black-garbed queen, ever disciplined, always exemplary, achingly alone in the St. George’s Chapel pew at her husband’s Windsor funeral — and the lockdown rule-busting parties the day before at Boris Johnson’s 10 Downing Street — was an indelible, wordless moral rebuke.

Her televised address from her Covid bubble at Windsor immediately made her people feel safer. “We will meet again,” she said, evoking the World War II chanteuse Vera Lynn. As the last crowned head who served in uniform in that war — she learned to fix cars and trucks as a member of the Auxiliary Territorial Service —D-Day anniversaries were still personal to the queen.

“She said she was immediately transported back to that time,” a former aide told me. “For her, it was a bunch of her friends on boats, landing on the beaches and pressing into France. And she had no idea whether she’d see them again.”

Without the queen, how will anyone know how to be British anymore? At the risk of sounding like Maggie Smith’s dowager Countess of Grantham in “Downton Abbey,” she was the last well-behaved person in our coarsening, transactional world . Amid the clamor of ubiquitous narcissism, her cool refusal to impose her views or justify her choices was ineffably soothing. So were her routines, her dogs and horses and headscarves. You could tell the seasons by which palace or castle the queen was residing in during any given month: Sandringham for Christmas, Windsor in June. The queen was so grounded, her death has left us spinning in space.

A sustaining strength was her lifelong connection to the countryside. She fiercely protected her time with the passion of her life, her horses. Before her wedding toast for Charles and Camilla in 2005 at Windsor Castle, she disappeared into a side room to watch the Grand National horse race. Her best friend was her longtime racing manager, who died in 2001, the Earl of Carnarvon, known to his friends as Porchey. He used to call her in the afternoons from the bloodstock sales with the hot horse news. Animals were the queen’s true emotional peers. They had no interest in her rank, loved her for herself and never bored her by asking what Churchill was really like.

Offstage, the queen had a dry, drop-dead sense of irony, especially when asked to do something “relatable.” In a planning session for her Golden Jubilee, an aide asked if she would consider riding on the newly-constructed Ferris wheel, the London Eye. “I am not a tourist,” I am told she replied. The reason she agreed to appear in a cameo with Daniel Craig as James Bond at the 2012 London Olympics was as a joke for her grandchildren. “Go, Granny!” an astonished Harry and William yelled from their seats as a stunt double dressed as the queen parachuted into the stadium followed by the queen herself behaving as if nothing had happened.

Elizabeth II never disappointed. Bailing out was not in her bloodstream. For the last nine months, the British nation has been in awe of how she struggled against ill health to continue to fulfill her duty in person and with the same imperturbable commitment. The fact that five days before her death, the tiny, infirm monarch even considered attending the Braemar Gathering, an annual hairy-kneed, kilt-whirling contest of tug of war and caber tossing, was, well, epic.

The queen herself never saw it that way. Sometimes missed in the paeans to her stoicism and physical stamina is how much Elizabeth II loved her job. She was the one member of the royal family (except perhaps Princess Anne) who did not find the relentless schedule of royal duties a mind-numbing chore. A former member of her staff told me that the queen adored anything to do with infrastructure, often fishing out invitations to open bridges and tunnels from her private secretaries’ “decline” pile. (Her grandmother Queen Mary, similarly dedicated to duty, once declared, “We are never tired and we all love hospitals.”) Elizabeth far preferred retreating to her study to read the government dispatches inside her famous daily red boxes to arbitrating the messy disputes of her unruly family, which she left to Prince Philip.

From the hesitant novice of her early years on the throne, the queen evolved into a great chief executive of the more than 1,000-year-old institution of the British monarchy. Elizabeth I, Victoria, Elizabeth II. It turns out women are very good at this job. Thanks to the queen’s attentiveness to those red boxes and her keen interest in the minutiae of government, she was always rigorously prepared for her weekly audiences with the prime minister. A visiting dignitary who spoke to her shortly after the catastrophic 2017 Grenfell Tower fire in west London told me, “If she had been a cabinet officer, you would have considered her unusually well briefed.”

Her family was well aware of how she separated her dual roles as monarch and matriarch. When Prince Harry told Oprah that the queen’s private secretary had headed off an agreed-upon visit to see her at Sandringham when he and his wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, wished to step back from royal duties to simultaneously pursue commercial opportunities, he clearly failed to understand what everyone else in the family absorbed from the cradle. Her advisers intervened only to provide Her Majesty with CEO deniability. A catch-up chat with his grandmother was very different from an occasion where matters that affected Crown and Constitution would be discussed. The jolly tea Harry seemed to have imagined was replaced by what became known as “the Sandringham Summit,” called by the queen, who hosted Charles, then the Prince of Wales, both his sons and the senior aides to each of the four. It was a meeting in which her sovereign self, not her granny persona, was in control. “Megxit” became not a deal but an edict. There would be no stepping “back” for the Sussexes, only stepping down.

But usually it was the queen’s impeccable deployment of soft, or softer, power we saw, especially during her more than 250 foreign trips. The greatest political success of her reign was based on an apolitical expression of regret — her historic visit to the Republic of Ireland in 2011 when she spoke of “being able to bow to the past, but not be bound by it.” Presiding for seven decades over shrinking dominions and her country’s diminishing world power, the queen was a master of the art of gracious retreats while preserving the aura of sovereignty. Some of the 2.5 billion people in the Commonwealth realms hoped for a more forthright acknowledgment of the lasting harms of colonialism. But for the queen, an apology for her country’s history would rank as a political statement she would not make. She has left it to her heirs to begin to address at last what Charles, in Barbados last year, called “the appalling atrocity of slavery.” In this instance, royal “regret” will never be enough.

It was the British monarchy’s extraordinary luck that the serious-minded, 25-year old woman who became queen in 1952 possessed the unique properties of character to honor her youthful pledge to devote her life to the service of the nation. She had seen what the grave burdens of duty had cost her beloved father, George VI, who died a careworn 56.

In the months before the coronation, a four-year-old Prince Charles found his mother sitting at her desk wearing the headache-inducing Imperial State Crown, studded with 2,868 diamonds and a massive ruby the size of a hen’s egg, according to Anne Glenconner’s memoir, “Lady in Waiting.” The queen explained that the crown was very heavy, and she wanted to get used to wearing it, one of her. She understood the weight of the crown both literally and figuratively.

As the new king said in his poignant first address as monarch, his mother’s life of duty was “a promise with destiny kept.” She will be remembered now as Elizabeth the Steadfast, Elizabeth the Great. Perhaps the most telling sentence the young monarch ever uttered was her answer to the archbishop of Canterbury’s question at her coronation. “Madam, is Your Majesty willing to take the oath?” In her high, girlish voice, she replied, “I am willing.”

You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us <a href="https://www.wionews.com/content-contribution-registration-form">here</a>.

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She died in her happy place. It was a photograph of herself and Prince Philip at Balmoral, wrapped in a tartan picnic blanket beside the hills of her beloved Loch Muick, that she chose to release on the eve of his funeral last year.

She died in her happy place. It was a photograph of herself and Prince Philip at Balmoral, wrapped in a tartan picnic blanket beside the hills of her beloved Loch Muick, that she chose to release on the eve of his funeral last year. Balmoral is where it is said he proposed to her and where, throughout her life, she spent contented summer months unassailed, except by her own family. I am told Her Majesty had made it quietly known that it was her hope she would die in Scotland and had increased the amount of time she spent there to better her chances. The woman who had given so much of her life to public duty was trying to ensure that her last moments were spent in the most private of her royal estates. She planned well. The final days of her reign had a satisfying sense of completion. After making it through her Platinum Jubilee marking 70 years on the throne in June, she lived long enough to kiss off her 14th prime minister, Boris Johnson, and welcome her 15th to form Her Majesty’s government. From Winston Churchill to Liz Truss. One would love to know — and never will — what the privately astringent Queen Elizabeth thought about this particular arc of political history. How we will miss not knowing what she thought! In a time when everyone has opinions, the queen adhered to the discipline of never revealing hers. However accomplished King Charles III turns out to be, he will never have his mother’s mystique because we know far too much about him. The queen was lucky to begin her reign in an era of press deference to the royals and smart enough to grant a formal interview only once, for a BBC documentary about the coronation. Her small talk to strangers was thrillingly pedestrian. When she pinned on my lapel the medal of the Commander of the British Empire for services to overseas journalism as editor of Vanity Fair and The New Yorker, I will forever remember what she said in the cut-glass tones of an everlasting British teatime. “So. Are you here now or over there?” “Over there, ma’am,” I replied. “Oh,” she said and moved to the next star-struck honoree, the author Timothy Garton Ash. That perennial poker face of hers was strategic, a constitutional tool. As one of her former aides told me, “Because she spent her entire life being such a closed book, people project onto her whatever they want to become.” The aftermath of Diana’s death was a rare time the queen’s perfect pitch could not meet the hour. The emblematic role of monarch that she had been trained to play — simply to be — was suddenly not enough for a grieving nation demanding something she had never been required to show before: emotion. The saving words in her reluctant television address acknowledging her wayward former daughter-in-law’s unique contribution were, “What I say to you now, as your Queen and as a grandmother, I say from my heart.” The grandmother phrase was written by Downing Street. The British public soon forgave her. There was never any serious movement in England during her reign to get rid of the monarchy. Standing above brawling partisan power, she alone could unite the nation in times of national joy or anxiety. During the challenging enforced separations of the pandemic, the contrast between the black-garbed queen, ever disciplined, always exemplary, achingly alone in the St. George’s Chapel pew at her husband’s Windsor funeral — and the lockdown rule-busting parties the day before at Boris Johnson’s 10 Downing Street — was an indelible, wordless moral rebuke. Her televised address from her Covid bubble at Windsor immediately made her people feel safer. “We will meet again,” she said, evoking the World War II chanteuse Vera Lynn. As the last crowned head who served in uniform in that war — she learned to fix cars and trucks as a member of the Auxiliary Territorial Service —D-Day anniversaries were still personal to the queen. “She said she was immediately transported back to that time,” a former aide told me. “For her, it was a bunch of her friends on boats, landing on the beaches and pressing into France. And she had no idea whether she’d see them again.” Without the queen, how will anyone know how to be British anymore? At the risk of sounding like Maggie Smith’s dowager Countess of Grantham in “Downton Abbey,” she was the last well-behaved person in our coarsening, transactional world . Amid the clamor of ubiquitous narcissism, her cool refusal to impose her views or justify her choices was ineffably soothing. So were her routines, her dogs and horses and headscarves. You could tell the seasons by which palace or castle the queen was residing in during any given month: Sandringham for Christmas, Windsor in June. The queen was so grounded, her death has left us spinning in space. A sustaining strength was her lifelong connection to the countryside. She fiercely protected her time with the passion of her life, her horses. Before her wedding toast for Charles and Camilla in 2005 at Windsor Castle, she disappeared into a side room to watch the Grand National horse race. Her best friend was her longtime racing manager, who died in 2001, the Earl of Carnarvon, known to his friends as Porchey. He used to call her in the afternoons from the bloodstock sales with the hot horse news. Animals were the queen’s true emotional peers. They had no interest in her rank, loved her for herself and never bored her by asking what Churchill was really like. Offstage, the queen had a dry, drop-dead sense of irony, especially when asked to do something “relatable.” In a planning session for her Golden Jubilee, an aide asked if she would consider riding on the newly-constructed Ferris wheel, the London Eye. “I am not a tourist,” I am told she replied. The reason she agreed to appear in a cameo with Daniel Craig as James Bond at the 2012 London Olympics was as a joke for her grandchildren. “Go, Granny!” an astonished Harry and William yelled from their seats as a stunt double dressed as the queen parachuted into the stadium followed by the queen herself behaving as if nothing had happened. Elizabeth II never disappointed. Bailing out was not in her bloodstream. For the last nine months, the British nation has been in awe of how she struggled against ill health to continue to fulfill her duty in person and with the same imperturbable commitment. The fact that five days before her death, the tiny, infirm monarch even considered attending the Braemar Gathering, an annual hairy-kneed, kilt-whirling contest of tug of war and caber tossing, was, well, epic. The queen herself never saw it that way. Sometimes missed in the paeans to her stoicism and physical stamina is how much Elizabeth II loved her job. She was the one member of the royal family (except perhaps Princess Anne) who did not find the relentless schedule of royal duties a mind-numbing chore. A former member of her staff told me that the queen adored anything to do with infrastructure, often fishing out invitations to open bridges and tunnels from her private secretaries’ “decline” pile. (Her grandmother Queen Mary, similarly dedicated to duty, once declared, “We are never tired and we all love hospitals.”) Elizabeth far preferred retreating to her study to read the government dispatches inside her famous daily red boxes to arbitrating the messy disputes of her unruly family, which she left to Prince Philip. From the hesitant novice of her early years on the throne, the queen evolved into a great chief executive of the more than 1,000-year-old institution of the British monarchy. Elizabeth I, Victoria, Elizabeth II. It turns out women are very good at this job. Thanks to the queen’s attentiveness to those red boxes and her keen interest in the minutiae of government, she was always rigorously prepared for her weekly audiences with the prime minister. A visiting dignitary who spoke to her shortly after the catastrophic 2017 Grenfell Tower fire in west London told me, “If she had been a cabinet officer, you would have considered her unusually well briefed.” Her family was well aware of how she separated her dual roles as monarch and matriarch. When Prince Harry told Oprah that the queen’s private secretary had headed off an agreed-upon visit to see her at Sandringham when he and his wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, wished to step back from royal duties to simultaneously pursue commercial opportunities, he clearly failed to understand what everyone else in the family absorbed from the cradle. Her advisers intervened only to provide Her Majesty with CEO deniability. A catch-up chat with his grandmother was very different from an occasion where matters that affected Crown and Constitution would be discussed. The jolly tea Harry seemed to have imagined was replaced by what became known as “the Sandringham Summit,” called by the queen, who hosted Charles, then the Prince of Wales, both his sons and the senior aides to each of the four. It was a meeting in which her sovereign self, not her granny persona, was in control. “Megxit” became not a deal but an edict. There would be no stepping “back” for the Sussexes, only stepping down. But usually it was the queen’s impeccable deployment of soft, or softer, power we saw, especially during her more than 250 foreign trips. The greatest political success of her reign was based on an apolitical expression of regret — her historic visit to the Republic of Ireland in 2011 when she spoke of “being able to bow to the past, but not be bound by it.” Presiding for seven decades over shrinking dominions and her country’s diminishing world power, the queen was a master of the art of gracious retreats while preserving the aura of sovereignty. Some of the 2.5 billion people in the Commonwealth realms hoped for a more forthright acknowledgment of the lasting harms of colonialism. But for the queen, an apology for her country’s history would rank as a political statement she would not make. She has left it to her heirs to begin to address at last what Charles, in Barbados last year, called “the appalling atrocity of slavery.” In this instance, royal “regret” will never be enough. It was the British monarchy’s extraordinary luck that the serious-minded, 25-year old woman who became queen in 1952 possessed the unique properties of character to honor her youthful pledge to devote her life to the service of the nation. She had seen what the grave burdens of duty had cost her beloved father, George VI, who died a careworn 56. In the months before the coronation, a four-year-old Prince Charles found his mother sitting at her desk wearing the headache-inducing Imperial State Crown, studded with 2,868 diamonds and a massive ruby the size of a hen’s egg, according to Anne Glenconner’s memoir, “Lady in Waiting.” The queen explained that the crown was very heavy, and she wanted to get used to wearing it, one of her. She understood the weight of the crown both literally and figuratively. As the new king said in his poignant first address as monarch, his mother’s life of duty was “a promise with destiny kept.” She will be remembered now as Elizabeth the Steadfast, Elizabeth the Great. Perhaps the most telling sentence the young monarch ever uttered was her answer to the archbishop of Canterbury’s question at her coronation. “Madam, is Your Majesty willing to take the oath?” In her high, girlish voice, she replied, “I am willing.” You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here. WATCH WION LIVE HERE ×

Queen Elizabeth II loved her job

Scottish police said on Monday (September 12) that three arrests were made in Edinburgh on Sunday and Monday as Queen Elizabeth's coffin was moved around the city. The arrests were relating to breaches of peace, causing a disturbance.

Queen Elizabeth passed away on Thursday in her holiday home Balmoral Castle in Scotland. She was 96 and had ruled as a monarch for 70 years.

As her coffin was moved through the Scottish countryside, thousands of mourners lined the streets. Many were seen crying, applauding in honour of the Queen or watching silently.

A 22-year old woman, who had been pictured holding an anti-monarchy sign, and a 74-year old man who were arrested separately on Sunday were charged with breaching the peace.

The third, a 22-year old man arrested on Monday along the route of the procession of the queen's coffin through Edinburgh, has yet to be charged.

Reuters said that it could not independently verify circumstances around the arrests.

Also Read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/king-charles-iii-makes-first-address-to-british-parliament-515469">King Charles III makes first address to British parliament</a>

On Monday, footage of a hearse carrying the queen's coffin, followed on foot by her children, showed one protester heckling her son Prince Andrew, before being pulled from the crowd by a man. He was then separated from the crowd by police officers.

(With inputs from agencies)

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&nbsp;

Scottish police said on Monday (September 12) that three arrests were made in Edinburgh on Sunday and Monday as Queen Elizabeth's coffin was moved around the city.

Scottish police said on Monday (September 12) that three arrests were made in Edinburgh on Sunday and Monday as Queen Elizabeth's coffin was moved around the city. The arrests were relating to breaches of peace, causing a disturbance. Queen Elizabeth passed away on Thursday in her holiday home Balmoral Castle in Scotland. She was 96 and had ruled as a monarch for 70 years. As her coffin was moved through the Scottish countryside, thousands of mourners lined the streets. Many were seen crying, applauding in honour of the Queen or watching silently. A 22-year old woman, who had been pictured holding an anti-monarchy sign, and a 74-year old man who were arrested separately on Sunday were charged with breaching the peace. The third, a 22-year old man arrested on Monday along the route of the procession of the queen's coffin through Edinburgh, has yet to be charged. Reuters said that it could not independently verify circumstances around the arrests. Also Read | King Charles III makes first address to British parliament On Monday, footage of a hearse carrying the queen's coffin, followed on foot by her children, showed one protester heckling her son Prince Andrew, before being pulled from the crowd by a man. He was then separated from the crowd by police officers. (With inputs from agencies) You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here. WATCH WION LIVE HERE ×

Scottish police arrest three over protests post queen's death

Monarchs will get the first opportunity to pay their respects to queen Elizabeth II at the same St. Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh today. King Charles III will preside over a vigil at the cathedral. Thousands are expected to visit the Queen's coffin. Just one week before her funeral in London, the coffin will be brought to the cathedral in a procession from the Holyrood house palace.

Queen Elizabeth II death: King Charles leads procession in Edinburgh

US President Joe Biden has formally accepted an invitation to attend the state funeral for Queen Elizabeth II, scheduled for September 19. In other news, the most recent flashpoint in the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine is the region near Kharkiv. Russia attacked several infrastructural services in eastern Ukraine. In other news, due to Afghanistan's financial turmoil, major online retailers have gone out of business. Recently, Click.af and Baqal announced their closures. Finally, Carlos Alcaraz, 19, won his first US Open championship, defeating Casper Ruud in the final.

Click on the headlines to read more:&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/joe-biden-formally-accepts-invitation-to-attend-queen-elizabeth-iis-funeral-will-not-travel-with-delegation-515264">Joe Biden formally accepts invitation to attend Queen Elizabeth II's funeral, will not travel with delegation</a>

<img src="https://cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/styles/story_page/public/2022/09/12/294961-joe-biden.png" />

Biden's visit to the UK for the funeral service will lead to a major security operation.&nbsp;

The United Kingdom plans to say goodbye to the longest-serving British monarch, who passed away at age 96 on Thursday.&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/russia-targets-power-grids-in-kharkiv-after-losing-ground-to-ukrainian-forces-515271">Ukraine accuses Russia of attacking power grid after losing ground in Kharkiv</a>

<img src="https://cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/styles/story_page/public/2022/09/12/294964-00032hr2ba.jpg" />

The attacks on Kharkiv continued for a long time and it ended up damaging the power and water supply for most parts of the city.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/amid-economic-crisis-in-afghanistan-online-shopping-services-to-shut-after-taliban-takeover-515260">Amid economic crisis in Afghanistan, online shopping services to shut after Taliban takeover&nbsp;</a>

<img src="https://cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/styles/story_page/public/2022/09/12/294959-000del509831.jpg" />Click.af, a well-known online shopping app, announced its closure on Saturday (September 10). The firm posted a message on its Facebook page stating its closure due to financial issues.

Baqal on Sunday (September 11), a three-year-old company, declared its collapse owing to financial difficulties.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/carlos-alcaraz-the-newly-crowned-world-no-1-who-took-us-open-by-storm-515262">Carlos Alcaraz: The newly crowned world No 1 who took US Open by storm</a>

<img src="https://cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/styles/story_page/public/2022/09/12/294960-0631422936764.jpg" />

The youngster from Spain maintained his calm at his first ever Grand Slam final and as a result of the victory, became the youngest World No 1 in history.

Watch |&nbsp;'We will never forget': US President Joe Biden honours 9/11 victims at Pentagon

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/we-will-never-forget-us-president-joe-biden-honours-911-victims-at-pentagon-515273/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

US President Joe Biden has formally accepted an invitation to attend the state funeral for Queen Elizabeth II, scheduled for September 19. In other news, the most recent flashpoint in the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine is the region near Kharkiv.

US President Joe Biden has formally accepted an invitation to attend the state funeral for Queen Elizabeth II, scheduled for September 19. In other news, the most recent flashpoint in the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine is the region near Kharkiv. Russia attacked several infrastructural services in eastern Ukraine. In other news, due to Afghanistan's financial turmoil, major online retailers have gone out of business. Recently, Click.af and Baqal announced their closures. Finally, Carlos Alcaraz, 19, won his first US Open championship, defeating Casper Ruud in the final. Click on the headlines to read more: Joe Biden formally accepts invitation to attend Queen Elizabeth II's funeral, will not travel with delegation Biden's visit to the UK for the funeral service will lead to a major security operation. The United Kingdom plans to say goodbye to the longest-serving British monarch, who passed away at age 96 on Thursday. Ukraine accuses Russia of attacking power grid after losing ground in Kharkiv The attacks on Kharkiv continued for a long time and it ended up damaging the power and water supply for most parts of the city. Amid economic crisis in Afghanistan, online shopping services to shut after Taliban takeover Click.af, a well-known online shopping app, announced its closure on Saturday (September 10). The firm posted a message on its Facebook page stating its closure due to financial issues. Baqal on Sunday (September 11), a three-year-old company, declared its collapse owing to financial difficulties. Carlos Alcaraz: The newly crowned world No 1 who took US Open by storm The youngster from Spain maintained his calm at his first ever Grand Slam final and as a result of the victory, became the youngest World No 1 in history. Watch | 'We will never forget': US President Joe Biden honours 9/11 victims at Pentagon

Morning news brief: Ukraine accuses Russia of attacking power grid, Alcaraz becomes World No 1, & more

Queen Elizabeth II's cortege has arrived in Edinburgh following a six-hour journey from Balmora castle. Mourners lined the streets as the hearse travelled from Aberdeenshire to the Palace of Holyroodhouse.

Queen Elizabeth's cortege met by huge crowds in Edinburgh

Queen Elizabeth and her beloved corgis; all about late monarch's most loyal companion

King Charles the Third on Monday (September 12) addressed the British parliament for the first time as monarch.&nbsp;

"I cannot help but feel the weight of history which surrounds us," the 73-year-old king told lawmakers at Westminster Hall in London, where he received parliament's formal condolences.&nbsp;

In his speech, King Charles vowed to follow the "example of selfless duty" set by his "darling late mother". Charles immediately became British monarch after his mother Queen Elizabeth the Second passed away on Thursday.

Charles then headed to Edinburgh, where he will walk in procession with other senior royals behind his mother's coffin from the Palace of Holyroodhouse, where it rested overnight, to St Giles' Cathedral.&nbsp;

In the evening on Monday, King Charles will lead a family vigil in the 12th-century cathedral. The public will be able to pay their respects in the cathedral as well before the coffin is flown to London. The Queen's funeral is slated to take place on September 19.

Prince Harry -- Charles' younger son, who renounced royal duties in 2020 and moved to the United States -- paid tribute to his grandmother, his "guiding compass".&nbsp;

"You are already sorely missed," the 37-year-old Harry said in his first public statement since the queen's death. He added that he and his American wife Meghan "now honour my father in his new role".&nbsp;

Thousands of people, many in tears, had packed the streets of the Scottish capital on Sunday to see the hearse carrying the queen's oak coffin arrive from the Balmoral estate in the Scottish Highlands where she died.&nbsp;

It was a taste of the crowds expected in London when the late monarch lies in state at Westminster Hall. Her coffin will be there for four days from Wednesday, with reports suggesting there could be queues of up to 20 hours for people wishing to pay their respects.&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)

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King Charles the Third on Monday (September 12) addressed the British parliament for the first time as monarch. "I cannot help but feel the weight of history which surrounds us," the 73-year-old king told lawmakers at Westminster Hall in London, where he received parliament's formal condolences.

King Charles the Third on Monday (September 12) addressed the British parliament for the first time as monarch. "I cannot help but feel the weight of history which surrounds us," the 73-year-old king told lawmakers at Westminster Hall in London, where he received parliament's formal condolences. In his speech, King Charles vowed to follow the "example of selfless duty" set by his "darling late mother". Charles immediately became British monarch after his mother Queen Elizabeth the Second passed away on Thursday. Charles then headed to Edinburgh, where he will walk in procession with other senior royals behind his mother's coffin from the Palace of Holyroodhouse, where it rested overnight, to St Giles' Cathedral. In the evening on Monday, King Charles will lead a family vigil in the 12th-century cathedral. The public will be able to pay their respects in the cathedral as well before the coffin is flown to London. The Queen's funeral is slated to take place on September 19. Prince Harry -- Charles' younger son, who renounced royal duties in 2020 and moved to the United States -- paid tribute to his grandmother, his "guiding compass". "You are already sorely missed," the 37-year-old Harry said in his first public statement since the queen's death. He added that he and his American wife Meghan "now honour my father in his new role". Thousands of people, many in tears, had packed the streets of the Scottish capital on Sunday to see the hearse carrying the queen's oak coffin arrive from the Balmoral estate in the Scottish Highlands where she died. It was a taste of the crowds expected in London when the late monarch lies in state at Westminster Hall. Her coffin will be there for four days from Wednesday, with reports suggesting there could be queues of up to 20 hours for people wishing to pay their respects. (With inputs from agencies) You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here. WATCH WION LIVE HERE ×

King Charles III makes first address to British parliament

UK: Vigil for Queen at St. Giles' Cathedral, King Charles III to preside

As the UK prepares to bid its final goodbye to the late monarch, the royal brothers Prince William and Prince Harry and their wives Kate and Meghan reunited on Saturday to hear the floral tributes to Queen Elizabeth, the second and greet the well wishers.

UK prepares to bid goodbye to Queen, Prince Harry joins William in Windsor

Australia, like much of the world, is mourning the death of Queen Elizabeth II but Republicans in Australia are already questioning the relevance of the institution of monarchy. The British monarch is Head of State in Australia.

UK: Ties with monarchy a longstanding debate in Australia, PM to attend Queen's funeral

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