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Queen Elizabeth II died at Balmoral during the afternoon in Scotland. Her death was announced on September 9, around 5:00 am. (NZ time.)

In a statement, Buckingham Palace said: “The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon. The King and The Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow.”

Woman of the faith

British monarchs, although they hold the titles “defender of the faith” and “supreme governor of the Church of England,” are not necessarily believers themselves. But Elizabeth II was a monarch apart.

“To understand her relationship to faith, you have to distinguish between Queen Elizabeth II, sovereign and formal, and Elizabeth Windsor, whose personal faith was alive,” explained Gavin Ashenden, a former Anglican priest who was the Queen’s honorary chaplain from 2008-2017.

“The constitutional balance requires that the Queen not express personal opinions,” said Ashenden, who became a Roman Catholic in 2019.

“So the fact that she spoke openly about her faith was not insignificant,” he pointed out.