King Charles III on Friday readied to address his mourning subjects on the first full day of his new reign as Britain and the world commemorated the extraordinary life of his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II.
\nAt 73, Charles is the oldest monarch yet to ascend the throne of the United Kingdom, following the death of his \u201ccherished\u201d mother at her Scottish estate of Balmoral on Thursday.
\nHe was due to return to London from Balmoral, where the 96-year-old queen died \u201cpeacefully\u201d after a year-long period of ill-health and decline, at the culmination of a record-breaking reign of 70 years.
\n\u201cDuring this period of mourning and change, my family and I will be comforted and sustained by our knowledge of the respect and deep affection in which the queen was so widely held,\u201d Charles said in a statement.
\nOne of the planet\u2019s most recognisable people, she was the only British monarch most people alive today had ever known.
\nThe tributes were universal, including from Russia and China.
\nNew York\u2019s Empire State Building was illuminated after sunset in silver and royal purple, while the Eiffel Tower in Paris dimmed its lights in tribute.
\nUS President Joe Biden described Queen Elizabeth as \u201ca stateswoman of unmatched dignity\u201d, and relayed the comforting words she gave when the United States was plunged into mourning on 9\/11.
\nThey were the same words chosen by the Daily Telegraph for its sombre front-page: \u201cGrief is the price we pay for love.\u201d
\nOther British newspapers also printed special editions to mark the occasion.
\n\u201cOur hearts are broken,\u201d headlined popular tabloid the Daily Mail.
\nThe Mirror wrote simply: \u201cThank you.\u201d
\nCharles\u2019s inaugural address, set to be pre-recorded, was expected to be broadcast on Friday evening, part of 10 days of plans honed over decades by Buckingham Palace and the UK government.
\nThe new king was also expected to hold his first audience with Prime Minister Liz Truss, who was only appointed on Tuesday in one of the queen\u2019s last official acts before her death.
\nTruss acclaimed the \u201csecond Elizabethan age\u201d, five centuries after the celebrated first.
\n\u201cWe offer him (Charles) our loyalty and devotion just as his mother devoted so much to so many for so long,\u201d she said in a televised address on Thursday. \u201cGod save the king.\u201d
\nCharles was also due to meet officials in charge of the elaborate arrangements for his mother\u2019s lavish state funeral, which will be attended by crowned and elected heads of state from around the world.
\nHe will decide on the length of the royal household\u2019s period of mourning, which is expected to last a month, while the UK government will observe at least 10 days of official remembrance, when limited business is conducted.
\nGun salutes \u2014 one round for every year of the queen\u2019s life \u2014 will be fired on Friday across Hyde Park in central London and from the Tower of London on the River Thames.
\nMuffled church bells will toll at Westminster Abbey, St Paul\u2019s Cathedral and Windsor Castle, among other places, and Union flags will fly at half-mast.
\nTruss and other senior ministers were set to attend a public remembrance service at St Paul\u2019s, while the UK parliament will start two days of special tributes.
\nThe queen\u2019s 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\u2019s reign in 1952.
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