The Royal Family has issued a statement announcing the passing of Queen Elizabeth II at age 96.

She had been placed under medical supervision at Balmoral Castle, her estate in the Scottish Highlands. Prince Charles traveled to Balmoral to be at his mother’s side. Britain’s longest reigning monarch whose 70-year reign spanned wars, a pandemic, 13 presidents and the winding down of Britain’s vast empire, leave his eldest son Charles as the new King of Britain and the various countries they had colonised.