On the day of her death, Buckingham Palace announced the sad news: "The Queen, with the greatest sadness, has asked for the following announcement to be made immediately: her beloved mother, Queen Elizabeth, died peacefully in her sleep this afternoon at Royal Lodge, Windsor. Members of the royal family have been informed."

"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," the Queen's son Charles, who automatically became king upon her death, said in a statement released Thursday. "We mourn profoundly the passing of a cherished Sovereign and a much-loved Mother.