Queen death latest: Prince Harry wraps arm round airport worker after leaving Balmoral

Prince Harry comforted an airport worker with a reassuring hand on her shoulder after she gave him her condolences as he jumped on a BA flight to Heathrow today having left Balmoral after 12 hours mourning the Queen with his father, King Charles III, and brother Prince William – as it was claimed he will stay in Britain for ten days until the state funeral.

The Duke of Sussex was the last royal to arrive at the Aberdeenshire castle last night and the first to leave this morning as he heads back to Windsor to be with Meghan Markle after losing a race against time to get to his beloved grandmother’s bedside before she died yesterday. 

Today the world mourns the death of Britain’s longest-reigning monarch as her son accedes to the throne. The Queen’s coffin – draped in the Royal Standard with a wreath of her favourite flowers on top – is believed to be at rest in the ballroom of Balmoral, where she spent every summer with her beloved Prince Philip. Her children and Prince William remain with her this morning.

At 8.28am, Harry was sat alone in the rear of a Range Rover as he was driven out of the Royal Family’s Scottish home, where he had arrived at 7.52pm last night. He was swept into Aberdeen airport at 9.20am, led by five police outriders, and boarded a flight to London leaving at 10am.

Harry wore a black suit and carried a shoulder bag as he walked towards the steps of the plane. An airport worker offered her sympathies as the Prince was about to walk up the steps of a British Airways aircraft.

The woman, who was dressed in a high- visibility yellow jacket, addressed Prince Harry. The royal smiled and patted her gently in the shoulder before boarding the aircraft for London’s Heathrow Airport.

Grief was written on the Duke of Sussex’s face after he landed in Scotland yesterday – 15 minutes after Her Majesty’s death was announced to the world. He had his head bowed and partially covered his face as he was driven out of Aberdeen airport, arriving at Balmoral after dark.

The King will fly to London today to address the nation – and Harry is expected to return to Windsor, where Meghan stayed behind after a ‘change of plan’ yesterday. Initially their spokesman said the couple would go together only to later clarify that Harry would now travel alone without further explanation.

The BBC’s royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell speculated on air: ‘She might not be terribly warmly welcomed, to be perfectly candid about it.’ 

It is not confirmed if Meghan and Harry will stay in the UK until the state funeral, expected to be on Monday, September 19, or return to the US to see Archie and Lilibet having already been away from them for a week. But Omid Scobie, the couple’s biographer, insisted that Harry will ‘of course’ remain in Britain.

It came as Buckingham Palace said it is the King’s wish that a period of royal mourning will be observed from now until seven days after the Queen’s funeral, the date of which will be confirmed in due course. His Majesty will head to London this afternoon as he begins his duties as monarch before addressing the nation this evening. Bells will be rung at churches as well as gun salutes in all corners of the UK with MPs giving their tributes in the Commons.

At 6pm a service of Prayer and Reflection will be held in St Paul’s Cathedral. The public are invited to attend and 2,000 seats will be allocated on a first come first served basis. 

The Sussexes, whose comments since Megxit has caused a rift with the royals, especially William, were not expected to see any members of the Royal Family – despite staying yards from the Cambridges during their pseudo-royal tour of Europe – until yesterday’s tragedy.

Prince William had flown up on a RAF jet with Prince Andrew, Prince Edward and his wife Sophie. But it is understood that they did not reach the estate before she passed. Initial reports had said his younger brother would also be on board. 

But instead Harry was in mid air when Buckingham Palace announced the death of his beloved grandmother. He flew by private jet from Luton Airport, arriving at Balmoral an hour and a half after the historic statement.

Courtiers issued the declaration at 6.30pm – just over an hour after Prince William and other senior royals had arrived to join Prince Charles at the Queen’s residence. Liz Truss was told at around 4.30pm, Downing Street said.

But when the world was being told the saddest of news, Harry’s Cessna was still in the air, making its approach to Aberdeen Airport.

The Duke of Sussex’s flight had been due to land at 6.29pm, a minute before the statement. But it was 20 minutes late taking off from London’s Luton Airport – with flight data showing it departed at 5.35pm. It took one hour and 11 minutes to reach Aberdeen.

By the time he landed, at 6.46pm, it was 16 minutes after the palace had made the announcement.

Harry then faced a lonely drive to the castle, finally arriving at 7.52pm where he joined other members of the Royal Family in mourning the Queen’s death.

He looked ashen-faced on the back seat of the Range Rover as it swept into the Balmoral estate. As well as losing a beloved grandmother, he may have been reflecting on his future without her as monarch. She remained fond of him, in spite of recent challenges, and he was said to have retained an ability to make her laugh.

By the time he arrived, his and Meghan’s Archewell website homepage had been replaced with a respectful blackedout page with the words: ‘In loving memory of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 1926-2022.’

Earlier in the day there had been confusion over whether Meghan was also on her way to Scotland.

In the morning, it appeared they were both intending to visit Her Majesty’s residence – until changing the plan so that Harry went alone.

As senior royals dashed to the bedside, a spokesman for the Sussexes was widely reported to have announced that Meghan and Harry were on their way.

The possibility raised eyebrows behind palace doors, given the recent strained relations between the Sussexes and senior royals.

Meghan’s well-publicised accusations about racism in the Royal

Family and alleging it did not support her in palace life overshadowed the Queen’s final days.

In contrast to the Sussexes, there was never any suggestion that the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and Cambridge would go together.

While William hastened north, Kate remained in London, where she was seen taking their children to their first full day at their new school.

Senior royals including William are said to have been avoiding his brother and wife amid concerns any encounters could provide material for the Duke of Sussex’s forthcoming book.

Although they live in California, the Sussexes have been in Europe this week on a mini ‘royal’-style tour, including an event in Germany for the duke’s forthcoming Invictus Games.

Last night they had been due to attend the WellChild Awards in London, which honours the brave deeds of seriously ill children.

They were not scheduled to see the Queen at all during their trip to the UK, but decided to go to Balmoral on hearing about Her Majesty’s health, it was reported yesterday morning.

However by the afternoon, the plan suddenly experienced a dramatic U-turn, with Meghan apparently no longer coming. A spokesman for the couple was widely reported as saying Meghan would now remain in London, although would not attend the WellChild awards. It was said the duchess could potentially join Harry in Scotland at a later date.

Harry and Meghan’s children Archie and Lilibet – named after the Queen – have stayed behind in the United States, and the couple were expected to return to them by the end of the week.

Earlier this week, one of the Sussexes’ favoured journalists claimed that Meghan and Harry still had not spoken to William and Kate, despite enjoying a day off from their tour, at Frogmore Cottage just 700 yards away from the latter pair’s Adelaide Cottage.

It was claimed this week that William had resolved not to speak to Harry until after his memoirs are released, fearing their conversation would appear on its pages.

The brothers now face seeing a lot of each other as they prepare for the Queen’s funeral.

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 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.

Operation London Bridge: For ten days, how life in our bereft nation will slow down to honour the Queen before state funeral

‘London Bridge is down’ – Buckingham Palace’s behind-the-scenes code for Queen Elizabeth II’s death – triggers a period of mourning in which normal life in the UK will dramatically slow for the next ten days.

The bereft nation is in shock at the loss of the only monarch many of us have ever known. But the Palace and the Queen herself have been preparing for the aftermath of this inevitable moment since the 1960s.

Behind the scenes, the detailed plan – Operation London Bridge – has already been put into action. It ushers in an official period of mourning that will have an effect on daily life for millions.

The strategy, a major undertaking on an unprecedented stage, for the final farewell to Elizabeth II will be formally set in motion once approved by King Charles III.

The finer details of Operation London Bridge have changed and been updated over the years – but the broad brushstrokes have remained constant.

It begins with what is described as D-Day, or day of death, although for practical reasons the Palace has deemed today is D-Day, to allow the complex arrangements to be put in place.

Bells will toll at Westminster Abbey, St Paul’s Cathedral and Windsor Castle, and gun salutes – one round for every year of the 96-year-old Queen’s life – will be fired in Hyde Park and at other stations.

Floodlighting at royal residences will be turned off, and the public will begin to leave flowers as tributes from around the world pour in.

As Her Majesty’s death occurred in Scotland, a contingency plan known as Operation Unicorn has been triggered. The mythical creature is Scotland’s national animal.

With the monarch spending several months a year at her beloved home in the Highlands, the plans for a Scottish element have been organised for some time.

Part of the long-held London Bridge arrangements, Unicorn sets in motion additional ceremonial events in Edinburgh ahead of the logistics of bringing the Queen back to London.

King Charles and his Queen Consort were staying at Balmoral last night and will return to London today.

Despite his grief, duty calls for the new sovereign and his first audience as monarch with Prime Minister Liz Truss is expected to happen as soon as possible.

Charles will also meet the Earl Marshal – the Duke of Norfolk – who is in charge of the accession and the Queen’s funeral, to approve the carefully choreographed schedule for the coming days.

It may include a period of official Court Mourning lasting a month. Different from national mourning, this will be observed by members of the Royal Family; Royal Households; Household Troops and Her Majesty’s representatives at home and abroad and their staffs.

This involves the wearing of black cloth or crepe bands on the left arms while civilian dress is expected to be dark with black ties for men and black dress for women.

Black-edged notepaper will be used in all Royal Households during this period and all Union flags will fly at half-mast.

The Government will confirm the length of national mourning, which is likely to be around 12 to 13 days, from now up until the day after the Queen’s funeral. They will also announce that the funeral day will be a public holiday in the form of a Day of National Mourning.

Union flags on royal buildings will fly at half-mast. The Royal Standard never flies half-mast. It represents the sovereign and the United Kingdom, and is a symbol of the continuation of the monarchy.

If the new King is in residence at a royal palace or castle, the Royal Standard will fly there full-mast as is the tradition.

Initially, the Queen’s coffin – draped in the Royal Standard with a wreath of her favourite flowers on top – is expected to be at rest in the ballroom of her beloved Balmoral Castle. A service will be held at St Paul’s this evening but bells will toll at midday.

Meanwhile, the formal accession process for a new head of state begins tomorrow. Charles, 73, is King but protocol dictates that he is proclaimed as the new monarch on the day after D-Day – so, tomorrow, at 10am. This will take place at a meeting of the Accession Council, which usually gathers at St James’s Palace in London. The codename for Charles’s accession is Operation Spring Tide. Later in the day the King will meet his Prime Minister.

On Sunday, the Queen’s coffin is expected to be transported by car from Balmoral to the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh. The journey will take more than five hours as it passes through a myriad of towns and villages, watched by mourners paying their respects.

On Monday, the coffin is expected to be taken in an emotional procession along the Royal Mile in the heart of Edinburgh’s old town to historic St Giles’ Cathedral, where it will remain for at least 24 hours. Members of the Royal Family will hold a vigil around the coffin in the cathedral.

On Tuesday, Her Majesty will return to Buckingham Palace, with her coffin expected to be flown to the capital.

From Wednesday, a four-day period will see the Queen’s lying-in-state expected to begin in Westminster Hall – Operation Marquee – following a ceremonial procession through London.

The Archbishop of Canterbury will conduct a service, and hundreds of thousands of people will file past the coffin on its catafalque and pay their respects. The management of the queues outside is Operation Feather. Senior royals are expected to pay their own moving tribute, standing guard at some stage around the coffin – the tradition known as the Vigil of the Princes.

Between Friday, September 16, and Sunday, September 18, heads of state from around the world will begin to arrive for the funeral, which is expected to take place on Monday, September 19, at Westminster Abbey.

The original plans are for the Queen’s coffin to process on a gun carriage to the Abbey, pulled by naval ratings – sailors – using ropes rather than horses.

Senior members of the family are expected to poignantly follow behind – just like they did for the funerals of Diana, Princess of Wales, and the Duke of Edinburgh. The military will line the streets and also join the procession.

Heads of state, prime ministers and presidents, European royals and key figures from public life will be invited to gather in the Abbey, which can hold a congregation of 2,000. The service will be televised, and a national two minutes of silence is expected to be held.

The same day as the funeral, the Queen’s coffin will be taken to St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle for a televised committal service. Later in the evening, there will be a private interment service with senior members of the Royal Family.

The Queen’s final resting place will be the King George VI memorial chapel, an annex to the main chapel – where her mother and father are buried, along with the ashes of her sister, Princess Margaret. Philip’s coffin will move from the Royal Vault to the memorial chapel to join the Queen.