Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II dies

Queen Elizabeth II, United Kingdom’s longest-serving monarch, died yesterday aged 96 after 70 years on the throne.

Buckingham Palace announced in a statement last evening that the Queen “died peacefully” at Balmoral Castle in Scotland where she took her summer break since August.

In his tribute on behalf of the government and people of Malawi, President Lazarus Chakwera condoled the British Royal Family and the people and Government of Great Britain on the passing of Her Majesty the Queen, who was also the Queen of Malawi between 1964 and 1966 as Malawi was transitioning to a republic.

Said Chakwera in a statement released last night: “For us as a nation, her inimitable legacy as a friend of Malawi will forever be etched on our hearts and indelibly marked on the pages of our history, a history she positively shaped in more ways than we can put into words.

“We join the whole world in mourning her passing and appreciating the life of generosity to mankind, devotion to duty, service to country, dedication to family and faith in God that she so humbly and ably embodied. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family during this time.”

The President also said he and the First Lady shared fond memories of the Queen’s visit to Malawi in July 1979 when she captivated the imagination of Malawians and demonstrated the same solidarity with our quest for socio-economic liberation as she had done with our political independence. The late Queen Elizabeth II was born on 21 April 1926 and ascended to the throne in 1953. She was last pictured in public on Tuesday when she carried out her final public duty of formally appointing the new UK Prime Minister Liz Truss at Balmoral Castle.

The departed monarch is survived by her four children, eight grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren. Her eldest son, Prince Charles, will now become King, while his eldest son, Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, assumes the position of heir to the throne, Britain’s The Telegraph newspaper reported.