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The latest news, updates and reaction on Queen Elizabeth’s death. For more on the Royals, visit here.
10:20 p.m. ET: Which members of the Royal Family have been granted a new title? Here’s a quick look at the new line of succession.
8:49 p.m. ET She cried at the beginning, when it was finally real. She was 25 years old — an accidental princess, daughter of an accidental king, heiress, all of a sudden, in a Kenyan hunting camp, to a crumbling empire, new symbol of a fading world.
But for Elizabeth, by the Grace of God, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Her other Realms and Territories, the tears didn’t last. Not in public anyway. By the time reporters saw her again that day, the day her father died, the day she became Queen — Feb. 6, 1952 — she was, in the words of a journalist on the ground, “composed.”
“She took it,” a staffer told the reporter, “like a Queen.”
Read the full story from the Star’s Richard Warnica.
7:30 p.m. ET (updated) A ceremony to proclaim the accession of King Charles III as Canada's new head of state will take place Saturday morning at Rideau Hall.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and members of the federal cabinet and Privy Council are also expected to meet as part of the protocol needed to formally proclaim the new sovereign.
Trudeau is signing the book of condolences for the Queen this evening, after he returns to Ottawa from a three-day cabinet retreat in Vancouver.
6:46 p.m. ET The death of Queen Elizabeth II has put many things on a brief pause, including production on the Netflix series “The Crown.”
Deadline reported Thursday that Peter Morgan, writer and creator of the Emmy-winning period drama, expected to temporarily suspend production on Season 6 “out of respect” for the royal family’s loss.
“’The Crown’ is a love letter to her and I’ve nothing to add for now, just silence and respect,” he told Deadline in an email. “I expect we will stop filming out of respect too.”
6:34 p.m. ET The death of the Queen, a momentous event that appeared to surprise in the moment despite all of those best-laid plans, cast a pall over the launch of Canada’s fall political season.
With the loss of a monarch praised for embodying values of duty, tradition, public service and sacrifice, all parties — in crass political terms — lost peak partisan opportunities.
Read the full story from the Star’s Tonda MacCharles
6:18 p.m. ET King Charles III looked like a man struggling with the gravity of change.
It was Friday, just 24 hours after his beloved Mumma, Queen Elizabeth II, passed away inside Balmoral Castle in the Scottish Highlands. Though she was 96, news of her death catapulted the world into paroxysms of grief. It was like discovering the sun had gone out. The longest-serving British monarch in history, she reigned for 70 years.
She was all we knew. As a crestfallen Justin Trudeau pointed out: “She was our Queen for almost half of Canada’s existence.”
Read the full column from the Star’s Vinay Menon
5:58 p.m. ET The date of Canada’s national commemoration ceremony for Queen Elizabeth II is up in the air as officials eagerly await public confirmation of when her state funeral will be held in London.
Canadian Heritage says the national ceremony will start with a memorial parade comprised of Canadian Armed Forces members and RCMP officers along with a 96-gun salute — one for each year of her life — and a CF-18 flypast.
That will be followed by a service at the Anglican Christ Church Cathedral in downtown Ottawa, which will be attended by government officials and other dignitaries and nationally televised for all Canadians.
4:57 p.m. ET Watch the throne. Kanye West is a changed man — again.
The death of British monarch Queen Elizabeth II has prompted the combative "Yeezus" rapper to settle his ongoing public feuds following a tumultuous year.
"LIFE IS PRECIOUS," Ye wrote early Friday. "RELEASING ALL GRUDGES TODAY LEANING INTO THE LIGHT"
The Grammy Award winner and former U.S. presidential long-shot candidate posted the missive to his fleeting Instagram grid, along with a pair of uncredited regal portraits of the ruler, who died Thursday at age 96 after serving a record 70 years on the British throne.
4:31 p.m. ET The Queen’s death means little outside the UK but it matters a huge amount to many of her 68 million fellow islanders. Everyone has a take and here’s mine, from a detached Canadian, possibly appropriately eccentric.
It was sad to see her smiling happily at her last public photo session on Tuesday. We never know when the black wing will brush us, but she knew it would be sooner rather than later. At 96, she was brave. But admit it, she was strange. In the most generous way possible, she was an eccentric.
Her Britain, that once-great island nation, has become a funny little country that emitted great streams of wonderful art, literature, music, and journalism, as well as being a centre of the international arms trade and a world-class emitter of sewage to the point where French neighbours are objecting.
Read the full column from the Star’s Heather Mallick.
3:10 p.m. ET As the United Kingdom mourns a beloved queen, the nation is already wondering how King Charles III will reign and whether his monarchy will depart from the traditions of his mother.
If his first full day on the throne is any indication, Charles seemed ready to chart at least a slightly different course.
Read the full story here.
1:45 p.m. ET Greece’s former King Constantine has described Queen Elizabeth II as “a beacon of dignity and humility for the whole world.”
Constantine lived in London for years after the Greek monarchy was abolished and is close to the British royal family.
“We have been through so much together and I will never forget the love and support she showed me and my family,” he said in a statement Friday. “To King Charles III, I wholeheartedly wish an equally successful service to his country.”
1:26 p.m. ET King Charles III ended his first public remarks as British monarch by thanking the public for the condolences he and his family have received in the wake of his mother the Queen’s death.
He addressed his “darling mama” and thanked her for her love and devotion to his family and the family of nations she has served over her lifetime.
As the pre-recorded speech ended, choral music in St. Paul’s Cathedral in London began to swell and a prayer and memorial service got underway.
1:10 p.m. ET (updated) King Charles III says he has feelings of profound sorrow as he remembers his mother the Queen, calling her an “inspiration and an example to me and all my family.”
In his first address to the publiscsince the Queen's death, the new King said his family owes her "the most heart-felt debt" for the
“We owe her the most heartfelt debt any family could owe to their mother for her love, affection, guidance and example.
The King says the Queen’s pledge to live a life of public service was not just a promise but a profound personal commitment that defined her whole life.
The speech, broadcast on the BBC and in front of mourners in London, was pre-recorded earlier today at Buckingham Palace.
1:07 p.m. ET "Queen Elizabeth's was a life well lived, a promise with destiny kept...That promise of lifelong service I renew to all today,” King Charles says.
12:57 p.m. ET (updated) King Charles III is giving his first address to the nation since the Queen’s death, a speech pre-recorded at Buckingham Palace earlier Friday.
Outside the palace, the wall of flowers by the gate is four feet high in places.
People gathered there are wearing everything from three piece suits and top hats to head-to-toe union jacks. At St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, a prayer service in honour of the Queen is also moments away from beginning, attended by new British Prime Minister Liz Truss and members of the public.
12:40 p.m. ET Queen Elizabeth II has died at the age of 96 and plans for her funeral should be announced soon.
The funeral for one of the world’s longest-reigning monarchs is expected to be held 10 days following her death.
For the following days ahead, here's what we expect to happen with her lying in state and her funeral.
Read the explainer from the Star’s Ivy Mak
11:55 a.m. ET A large painting of the Queen that was once a fixture during hockey games and concerts in Winnipeg may soon be on public display again.
Ron D'Errico owns the painting and says he plans on displaying it in a hangar at the security firm he owns, and it may be displayed temporarily in a shopping centre in the meantime.
The five-by-three-metre painting takes a crew of 10 people to assemble and install. It hung for years in the old Winnipeg Arena, which closed in 2004.
11:34 a.m. ET People paid tribute to Queen Elizabeth II at the gates of her Balmoral residence where she died.
Despite the rain on Friday, mourners from all walks of life came to lay down flowers or simply say goodbye to the British monarch they loved and respected.
“I just wanted to say thank you to the Queen,” said Christy Asalor.
“She has been a symbol of strength and stability, she has been so selfless and she’s given herself, literally sacrificed her whole life serving us until two days before she passed and the least we could do is just say thank you.”
11:20 a.m. ET U.S. climate envoy and former U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, has paid tribute to Queen Elizabeth, describing her as the “calm in the storm” and a “great stateswoman.”
In brief comments to The Associated Press in London, Kerry said his thoughts were with the royal family and noted the sense of loss that people were feeling around the world.
Kerry also praised what he described as the queen's “great sense of direction."
11 a.m. ET “The Crown,” Netflix’s acclaimed series about Queen Elizabeth II and her family, has paused production due to the monarch’s death.
A spokesperson for the series said production was paused on Friday “as a mark of respect” and will also be suspended on the day of the queen’s funeral.
The show is in production on its sixth season. Its first two seasons starred Claire Foy as the young Princess Elizabeth ascending to the throne and gradually growing into her role as monarch, and seasons three and four featured Olivia Colman as a more mature queen.
The show, which has won 22 Emmy Awards so far, has gradually moved closer to current events. Netflix recently revealed casting of the actors who are playing Prince William and his wife Kate in the sixth season.
10:45 a.m. ET The federal Conservatives are going ahead with plans to elect their new leader Saturday, but they’re putting away the confetti.
Whether they should or could host a big celebration in the wake of the Queen’s death Thursday was debated by party officials well into Thursday evening, but a decision was made to proceed.
“The event planned to announce the results of the Conservative party leadership race will go ahead as planned on Saturday at 6 p.m. Eastern, with a revised program that reflects the passing of Her Majesty the Queen,” the head of the organizing committee, Ian Brodie, said in a statement early Friday morning.
Read the full story from the Star’s Stephanie Levitz
10:27 a.m. ET The foreign affairs minister for Myanmar’s National Unity Government, an underground parallel government spearheading the fight for democracy in Myanmar against its military-led government, posted her condolences on Twitter.
“I’m deeply saddened by the news of the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. On behalf of @NUGMyanmar and the people of Myanmar, I extend our deepest sympathies to the Royal Family and the people of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth,” wrote Zin Mar Aung.
10 a.m. ET Visitors who hailed from around the world ae carrying bouquets to lay in nearby parks of Buckingham Palace, where thousands of people have come to pay respects.
A stuffed Paddington Bear, cards, pictures and handwritten notes were among the tributes that were piling up at the base of trees that line the road to the palace.
9:50 a.m. ET South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol tweeted his condolences on the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
“She had a strong belief in the cause of human freedom and left great legacies of dignity,” he said. He wrote that her kind heart and good deeds will remain in people's memories.
9:20 a.m. ET (updated) King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort are greeting cheering crowds as they arrive at Buckingham Palace.
He got out of the car to greet well-wishers and look at some of the huge pile of floral tributes left to honor his mother Queen Elizabeth II. Some called “Thank you Charles” and “Well done, Charlie!” as he shook hands with the crowd. Several shouted “God save the King!”
9 a.m. ET Saturday’s Accession Council will be televised for the first time in history. The Accession Council, attended by Privy Councillors, is divided into two parts. In Part 1, the Privy Council, without The King present, will proclaim the Sovereign, and formally approve various consequential Orders, including the arrangements for the Proclamation.
Part II, is the holding by The King of His Majesty’s first Privy Council. The Kind will make his declaration and read and sign an oath to uphold the security of the Church in Scotland and approve Orders in Council which faciliate continuity of government
8:42 a.m. ET King Charles III has arrived in London.
8:31 a.m. ET (updated) Former CTV News anchor Lisa LaFlamme will lead a rival network’s coverage of the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
In a Friday morning tweet, Rogers Sports and Media announced that LaFlamme, dismissed last month as anchor of CTV’s flagship newscast, will feature as a special correspondent from London, leading CityNews’ coverage of the Queen’s life, her funeral and the transition to King Charles III.
“The Queen is the only monarch most of us have ever known. We grew up with Her Majesty and mourn the passing of this remarkable and inspiring woman,” said LaFlamme in a statement accompanying the announcement.
Read the full story from Star staff
8:08 a.m. ET The gun salute consisting of 96 volleys separated from cannons ten seconds apart to represent the 96 years of Queen Elizabeth II’s life are happening worldwide.
8 a.m. ET After seven decades on the throne, Queen Elizabeth II, Britain’s longest reigning monarch, died Thursday at Balmoral Castle. She was 96.
Elizabeth is succeeded by her eldest son, Charles. Royal officials confirmed the new monarch will be known as King Charles III.
Here are seven things you need to know about the Queen’s passing from the Star’s Kevin Jiang.
7:45 a.m. ET: The Senate of Canada Building and the Peace Tower in Ottawa will be lit up in royal blue over the coming days as a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II. A royal cypher will also be projected on the Peace Tower.
The illumination began last night and the Senate of Canada says it will continue from dusk until midnight during the official mourning period for the Queen.
7:32 a.m. ET: Bells are tolling across the UK in honour of Queen Elizabeth II.
7:30 a.m. ET: During her seven visits to Toronto, Queen Elizabeth did plenty of marvelling: at gleaming municipal buildings, suburban malls, grape-stomping exhibitions.
“She really wanted to know what makes Toronto tick,” says former mayor Art Eggleton.
Eggleton was mayor in 1984. It was Toronto’s 150th birthday, and the Queen’s second visit to the city. Her first had been in 1951, when she was a young princess touring Toronto in place of her father. A postwar immigration boom had changed the city in the intervening years, something she had acknowledged in 1973, telling the crowd at the Royal York that she was Queen of Canada, “not just of one or two ancestral strains.”
Read the full story from the Star’s Katie Daubs
7:11 a.m. ET: In becoming King Charles III upon the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, the new King took up a nominative legacy dating back some five centuries — a legacy to which, perhaps, he would rather not foster comparisons during his reign.
Though the bar, it seems, is not set particularly high.
His first namesake was heavy-handed and tyrannical, fought constantly with his Parliament, eventually drew the country into civil war and was ultimately beheaded for his troubles after being convicted on charges of high treason. Thereafter, England abolished the monarchy.
His second namesake — Charles II, son of the first Charles — was first named King of Scotland after his father’s execution. After his defeat by the monarch-less English, he spent years on the run before regaining the English throne.
Read the full story from the Star’s Steve McKinley
6:45 a.m. ET: The English Premier League postpones all games this weekend as ‘mark of respect’ following death of Queen Elizabeth II.
6:30 a.m. ET: King Charles III leaves Balmoral Castle in Scotland to head to London a day after the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
Britain’s new king prepared to meet with the prime minister Friday and address a nation mourning Queen Elizabeth II.
6:17 a.m. ET: The Royal Family have yet to announce a date for a state funeral for the Queen, but have released a notice saying the “it is His Majesty The King’s wish that a period of Royal Mourning be observed from now until seven days after The Queen’s Funeral.”
“The date of the Funeral will be confirmed in due course,” the statement read.
6 a.m. ET: British sports were holding a day of mourning for Queen Elizabeth II, with high-profile golf, cricket and horse racing events cancelled Friday as a mark of respect and the Premier League meeting to discuss whether to call off games scheduled for the weekend.
The BMW PGA Championship, the flagship event on the European tour, was paused near the end of the first round Thursday following the announcement of the queen’s death — there were still 30 players out on the course — and there will be no play Friday.
“We remain hopeful of restarting at some stage over the weekend,” the tour said Friday in a statement, adding that it would be reviewing “protocol guidance from Buckingham Palace” while also aligning with the decisions made by other sporting events in Britain.
The England and Wales Cricket Board has already announced that there would be no play on Friday in the third and deciding test between England and South Africa at the Oval. There was no update on whether play would be resuming over the weekend.
Other events called off included the third day of horse racing’s St. Leger festival in Doncaster — horse racing was the queen’s favourite sport — and cycling’s Tour of Britain, which also cancelled the final two stages of the race scheduled for the weekend.
Soccer matches in the English Football League — the three leagues below the Premier League — and in the Scottish lower league will not be played Friday and matches scheduled to be played in Northern Ireland over the weekend were also cancelled.
5:56 a.m. ET: Malcolm Turnbull, the leader of a failed campaign to have an Australian president replace the British monarch as Australia’s head of state and who later became prime minister, came close to tears on Friday in paying tribute to Queen Elizabeth II.
Turnbull was chair of the Australian Republican Movement in 1999 when Australians voted at a referendum against the nation becoming a republic, severing its constitutional ties to the queen. He was prime minister between 2015 and 2018, during which time the queen gave him a photograph of herself with her husband Prince Philip.
Turnbull’s voice trembled as he recalled looking at the photo on Thursday night before he and his wife Lucy Turnbull went to bed with a sense of dread because of news from Buckingham Palace of the queen’s failing health.
“I took the portrait of the queen out and set it up and we just thought, ‘What an amazing life. What amazing leadership,’” Turnbull told Australian Broadcasting Corp.
“It’s the end of an era and let’s hope that the future, after the queen’s passing, is one where we will have leadership as dedicated and selfless as she has shown,” Turnbull added.
5:54 a.m. ET: South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol tweeted his condolences on the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
“She had a strong belief in the cause of human freedom and left great legacies of dignity,” he said. He wrote that her kind heart and good deeds will remain in people’s memories.
5:52 a.m. ET: (updated) If this was Sir Elton John’s Toronto swan song in terms of concert appearances, then it was a doozy.
Performing in front of a crowd of 45,000 fans for the second night in a row — and for the sixth time as part of his seemingly never-ending “Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour” that has been interrupted by the pandemic and health issues — John, 75, had plenty to say about the city where he’s not only staged nearly 30 concerts and played for more than 750,000 people since the ’70s, but gave him true love and a husband in Torontonian David Furnish among other joys.
“I have a lot to thank you for,” the legendary piano-playing superstar declared just before launching into “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,” the 23rd song of a marathon two-and-a-half hour evening of predominantly chart-topping hits — and his grand finale.
Read the full review from Nick Krewen
5:50 a.m. ET: Canadians mourning the death of Queen Elizabeth II can pay tribute to her in a book of condolences at Rideau Hall starting today.
Gov. General Mary Simon signed the book of condolences Thursday evening ahead of it being made available to the public. Simon, who delivered part of her tribute in her first language, Inuktitut, said people would be sharing words of remembrance about the Queen in “countless languages around the world.”
An official book of condolences was also opened online Thursday.
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