LONDON - Members of the public laid flowers and personal tributes outside Britain's palaces and churches on Friday as the country marked the death of Queen Elizabeth II.  

The gates and fences outside Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle were filled with flowers and people's notes, while billboards across London displayed messages of condolence and newspapers ran front-page photo tributes to the queen.  

Officials advised people wanting to lay flowers at Buckingham Palace to do so at dedicated sites in the nearby Green Park or Hyde Park.

Buckingham Palace said there would a period of mourning to be observed by members of the family and the royal household until a week after the funeral, the date of which has not yet been confirmed but is expected in about 10 days time.  

An online book of condolence was also opened.

At the remote Balmoral Castle in Scotland where the Queen died on Thursday and where her family are gathered, people also arrived to pay their respects.  

“She was amazing. She was like everyone’s granny. She always managed to capture the mood with her words,” said Kay McClement, 55, who came with a friend to leave flowers at the castle.  

People also gathered at Buckingham Palace, the Queen’s home in central London, to lay flowers outside the famous black railings.  

“I brought my young daughter here, because even though she won’t remember it, we can tell her she was here as history was happening,” said railway worker Liam Fitzjohn, 27.  “She’s all we ever knew, we will never have a queen like that again.”

The government said in a statement it expected large crowds to gather at royal residences. “We expect significant crowding and delays on some public transport,” it said.

Queen Elizabeth was head of state of the United Kingdom and 14 other realms including Australia, Canada, Jamaica, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.

Charles, who automatically succeeded her as King said the death was a moment of great sadness for himself and his family.  

He will be officially proclaimed Britain’s new monarch at a meeting of the Accession Council at St James’s Palace on Saturday, Buckingham Palace said.

“I know her loss will be deeply felt throughout the country, the Realms and the Commonwealth, and by countless people around the world,” the 73-year-old Charles said in a statement.  

He met Prime Minister Liz Truss, who was appointed by the Queen only on Tuesday, before delivering a televised address to the nation in the evening. 

There will be gun salutes at London’s Hyde Park and at the Tower of London and the bells at Westminster Abbey and St Paul’s will toll.

At Windsor Castle, the Sebastopol Bell, captured during the 19th Century Crimean War and which is only struck to mark the death of the sovereign, will toll.  

Regular business in Parliament was replaced with a special session for lawmakers to pay tribute to the queen. Parliament will also convene on Saturday, something it rarely does, to approve a message of condolence to the king.

News that the queen's health was deteriorating emerged shortly after midday on Thursday when her doctors said in a statement that she was under medical supervision, prompting her family to rush to Scotland.

The queen had been suffering from what Buckingham Palace had called "episodic mobility problems" since the end of last year, forcing her to withdraw from nearly all her public engagements.

Her husband of 73 years, Prince Philip, died in 2021.

The queen's last public duty came only on Tuesday, when she appointed Ms Truss prime minister - the 15th of her reign.

"The death of Her Majesty the Queen is a huge shock to the nation and to the world," Ms Truss said outside her Downing Street office where the flag was lowered, like those at royal palaces and government buildings across Britain.

"Through thick and thin, Queen Elizabeth II provided us with the stability and the strength that we needed. She was the very spirit of Great Britain - and that spirit will endure."

Trade unions cancelled planned strikes and national broadcaster BBC said that “as a mark of respect” it had called off its remaining "Proms" concerts – whose patriotic, flag-waving finale was due to take place on Saturday.

Seven decade reign

The news stunned not only people in Britain, with condolences pouring in from leaders around the world.

"Her legacy will loom large in the pages of British history, and in the story of our world," US President Joe Biden said in a statement.

Queen Elizabeth II, who was also the world's oldest and longest-serving head of state, came to the throne following the death of her father King George VI on Feb 6, 1952, when she was just 25.

She was crowned in June the following year. The first televised coronation was a foretaste of a new world in which the lives of the royals were to become increasingly scrutinised by the media.

"I have in sincerity pledged myself to your service, as so many of you are pledged to mine. Throughout all my life and with all my heart I shall strive to be worthy of your trust," she said in a speech to her subjects on her coronation day.

Elizabeth became monarch at a time when Britain still retained much of its old empire with Winston Churchill her Britain's prime minister, while Josef Stalin led the Soviet Union and the Korean War was raging.

Bereft of its symbol of continuity and resilience, Britain begins its new era in grave economic crisis, marked by ructions with Europe and a populace disaffected by years of political strife and scandal. REUTERS