The queen, who was the longest-reigning monarch in British history, died a year ago on 8th September 2022, at age 96 at Balmoral Castle, the royal family’s longtime retreat in Scotland. Upon her death, Charles became king and his wife Camilla became queen.
His Majesty The King, has chosen to spend the day in quiet reflection on the Balmoral estate, surrounded by the sweeping scenery of his mother’s beloved Highlands.
Deeply religious, King Charles will spend time in private prayer, Queen Camilla by his side.
Prince Harry paid tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth on Thursday as he returned to Britain to attend an awards ceremony a day before the first anniversary of his grandmother’s death. Prince Harry comes back to Britain only occasionally since his move to California with his wife Meghan.
King Charle’s siblings, the Princess Royal, the Duke of Edinburgh and the Duke of York, will also spend the day privately.
As such, it will be to Prince William and Princess Catherine that the nation turns to publicly mark the occasion with a series of official engagements.
The couple have significantly, chosen to travel to Wales, the location of their first joint visit after being given their new titles last September and the nation to which they have vowed to dedicate more time, building respect and trust with local communities.
The couple will attend a small, private service on Friday.
The Waleses will also reflect on the events of one year ago as they bow their heads in the private sanctuary of the church.
Commemorations will be low key on Friday, on the occasion of the anniversary of Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s passing. The king who is at his sprawling Scottish Highland estate of Balmoral is not expected at any official engagement.
The King has issued the following message:
“In marking the first anniversary of Her late Majesty’s death and my Accession, we recall with great affection her long life, devoted service and all she meant to so many of us.
I am deeply grateful, too, for the love and support that has been shown to my wife and myself during this year as we do our utmost to be of service to you all.”
Charles R.
An unreleased photograph of The late Queen that was chosen by His Majesty The King to mark the anniversary, has been issued alongside His Majesty’s message.
The image of Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was captured 16th October 1968 at Buckingham Palace, as part of an official sitting granted to Cecil Beaton (1904-80).
The image was initially shown at the National Portrait Gallery between November 1968 and March 1969, as part of its first photographic exhibition ‘Beaton Portraits 1928-68’. This was the first retrospective of the work of a living photographer in a British national museum.
Beaton first photographed Her late Majesty in 1942. Although he photographed Her late Majesty and many other members of the Royal Family across the decades, the 1968 sitting was their last sitting together.
Queen Elizabeth II’s passing was a seismic event in British life. The Queen was the only monarch and Head of State most Britons alive had ever known. Tens of thousands of people queued for up to 25 hours during the 10-day official mourning period, to file past her flag-shrouded coffin as it lay in state in Westminster Hall at the Houses of Parliament.
The streets of London and the route west to Windsor Castle were even more packed for the state funeral, which was beamed around the world to a television audience of millions. The Queen was interred in the King George VI Memorial Chapel, Windsor, alongside her late husband, Prince Philip, who passed away in 2021, her father and mother and the ashes of her younger sister, Princess Margaret.
The government made an announcement earlier this week, that a national memorial to the late monarch will be commissioned “in due course”.
