Meeting new PM, officials in charge of Queen’s funeral: UK’s King Charles III begins royal duties today

On Friday, King Charles III was due to address his new subjects, as Britain was plunged into mourning by the death of Queen Elizabeth II, ending a historic 70-year reign.

Charles, 73, became monarch immediately after the death of his mother at her Scottish Highland retreat on Thursday, sparking tributes at home and abroad.

Details of his inaugural address — set to be pre-recorded — were not immediately released by the palace, but are part of 10 days of detailed pre-prepared plans honed over decades.

Also on Friday, the new King is expected to hold his first audience with Prime Minister Liz Truss, who was only appointed on Tuesday in one of the queen's last ceremonial acts before her death.

He was also due to meet officials in charge of his accession, and the elaborate arrangements for his mother's set-piece funeral.

He will decide on the length of the royal household's period of mourning, which is expected to last a month, while the UK government will observe 10 days of official remembrance, when limited business is conducted.

Gun salutes — one round for every year of the queen's life — will be fired across Hyde Park in central London as well as from the Tower of London: the ancient royal fortress on the River Thames.

Muffled church bells will toll at Westminster Abbey, St Paul's Cathedral, and Windsor Castle — among other places — and Union flags will fly at half-mast.

Truss and other senior ministers are set to attend a public remembrance service at St Paul's, while the UK parliament will start two days of special tributes.

The queen's death and its ceremonial aftermath comes as the government strives to rush through emergency legislation to tackle the kind of war-fuelled economic privation that marked the start of Elizabeth's reign in 1952.

British newspapers were inevitably dominated by news related to the queen's passing, printing special editions to mark the occasion.

"Our hearts are broken," headlined popular tabloid the Daily Mail.

"We loved you Ma'am," said The Sun.

The Mirror wrote simply: "Thank you."

Elizabeth II, whose public appearances had become rarer, died following months of ill-health that first came to light after she spent an unscheduled night in hospital, in October 2021, for undisclosed health tests.

On Tuesday, in one of her last official acts, she appointed Truss as the 15th prime minister of her reign, which began with Sir Winston Churchill in Downing Street.

She was seen smiling in photographs, but looked frail and leant on a walking stick. Her hand was also bruised dark blue-purple, sparking concern.

Her coffin will initially remain at Balmoral, a private residence set among thousands of acres of rolling grouse moors and forests.

Her closest family members had rushed to be at her bedside at Balmoral, where her body will now lie before being taken to the Scottish capital Edinburgh.

From there, it is expected to travel by train to London for a lying-in-state, and a funeral.

Speaking on the steps of Downing Street shortly after her death was announced, Truss acclaimed the "second Elizabethan age", five centuries after the celebrated first.

"We offer him [Charles] our loyalty and devotion just as his mother devoted so much to so many for so long," she said in the televised address.

"God save the king."

Braving steady rain, crowds gathered late into Thursday night outside Buckingham Palace in London and Windsor Castle west of the capital, with the number of well-wishers set to swell in the days ahead.

Londoner Joshua Ellis, 24, choked back tears as he mourned the "nation's grandmother" at the palace.

"I know she is 96 but there is still a sense of shock. She is in all our minds and hearts," he said.