Royal Standard raised above Buckingham Palace for the first time of the King’s reign
It comes after Charles III was appointed King following the death of the nation’s longest-reigning monarch, Elizabeth II.
King Charles III acceded to the throne immediately on the death of Elizabeth II, at the age of 96 in the sanctuary of Balmoral Castle.
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The Queen’s son and successor King Charles III spoke of his grief soon after Buckingham Palace announced the death of the 96-year-old monarch, who died “peacefully” on Thursday afternoon at Balmoral.
There were cheers from the crowds as the King’s state Bentley arrived at the gates of the Palace.
He stepped from the car to greet the hundreds of well-wishers gathered outside.
Charles shook hands with countless members of the public lined up behind a barrier, thanking them for their good wishes.
Cheers rang out at Buckingham Palace as the King and Queen arrived, along with shouts of “God save the King”.
Queen Elizabeth: Updates as Buckingham Palace announces the death of the Queen
The nation’s new monarch King Charles III has begun his poignant journey from Balmoral to London, following the death of his mother the Queen.
The grief-stricken King was glimpsed for the first time since his accession to the throne as he departed Birkhall, his private home on the Balmoral estate, by car at around 11.15am on Friday.
With Camilla, his new Queen Consort, in the front passenger seat, Charles sat in the back, dressed in his mourning clothes of a black suit and tie, looking sombre as he headed to Aberdeen Airport.
Charles gave the order that a period of “Royal Mourning” for the Queen will be observed from now until seven days after her funeral.
Royal Mourning will be observed by members of the royal family, royal household staff and representatives of the royal Household on official duties, together with troops committed to ceremonial duties.
Royal salutes will be fired in London on Friday at 1pm in Hyde Park by the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery, and at the Tower of London by the Honourable Artillery Company, with one round being fired for each year of the Queen’s life.
The Accession Council will be televised for the first time in history, Clarence House has confirmed.
The relationship between the Queen and Parliament was never “just on paper”, Labour former Cabinet minister Harriet Harman has said.
Paying tribute to the Queen in the Commons, the Mother of the House told MPs: “After Labour won the election in 1997, I went up to the Palace where, like other new secretaries of state, she pointed me to the Privy Council and bestowed on me the seals of office.
“They are actual seals which are given to you, and you take back to your department to be locked in a safe but when just a year later I was sacked…”
“And the seals taken out of the safe and taken back to Buckingham Palace, my diary was empty, and my phone stopped ringing. My office was astonished to get a call from Buckingham Palace. No one else wanted to have anything to do with me, but the Queen wanted to see me.
“I was invited to take Queen take tea with the Queen for her to thank me for my service as Secretary of State.”
She added: “My point is that the relationship between our Queen and Parliament and our Queen and Government was never just on paper, but was always active and always encouraging.”
Hundreds of privy counsellors are to miss the new King’s historic Accession Council after being dropped from the list of attendees due to lack of space and concerns over safety.
All 700-plus privy counsellors – mostly present and past politicians – would traditionally be summoned to witness the formal proclamation of the death of the monarch and the accession of the successor to the throne, and the King’s first Privy Council.
The plane carrying the King and Queen was watched by over 150,000 people on a flight tracking website as it landed.
According to FlightRadar24, 153,000 users were tracking flight KRH20R as it touched down at RAF Northolt at 1:35pm.
The Embraer Legacy 600 jet spent an hour and five minutes in the air, having left Aberdeen at 12:30pm.
The new King will be formally proclaimed monarch at a historic Accession Council in the State Apartments of St James’s Palace at 10am on Saturday as the ceremony is televised for the first time.
A Principal Proclamation will be read in public for the first time by the Garter King of Arms in the open air from the balcony overlooking Friary Court at St James’s an hour later at 11am.
It will be followed by a flurry of Proclamations around the country, with the second one at City of London at the Royal Exchange at midday on Saturday, and further Proclamations in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales at midday on Sunday.
Buckingham Palace issued details of the arrangements, considered the first official orders of business of a new reign, on Friday.
It was confirmed cameras will be allowed inside the State Apartments to capture the proceedings for the first time in history.