How King Charles took office yesterday at the age of 73 with his first address to the nation and first meeting with the new prime minister Liz Trussthe British monarchy entered a new, less predictable era, while the country mourned the only queen that the vast majority of citizens knew in life.

His bells St Paul’s Cathedral and his Westminster Abbey mournful blows sounded yesterday at noon, saying goodbye to the head of state and the church, and 96 cannons were fired from Hyde Park and the Tower of London (one for each year of the reign of Elizabeth). Yesterday was the first of ten days of national mourning for a woman who for 70 years has symbolized British stability in a world of catastrophic change. The House of Commons began a two-day special session in honor of the Queen, in which Prime Minister Liz Truss spoke of the “source of grief” for the British people and called her “British number one diplomat”.

Thousands of citizens also marched past Buckingham Palace yesterday to leave some flowers. Political activity and clashes were suspended, and unions suspended planned strikes. Concerts and other cultural events have been cancelled, sporting events have been postponed and many shops have remained closed.

The Queen’s funeral will take place at Westminster Abbey on a date that was not known until last night, although press reports said it would take place 11 days after her death. Buckingham announced that the royal family and palace staff would be in mourning until a week after the funeral.

From the White House to the Kremlin and from Beijing to Ottawa, heads of state and government expressed their grief at the Queen’s death.

Yesterday, on their first full day of work, King Charles and his wife Camilla left the royal estate of Balmoral in Scotland, where his mother died, and returned to London. Charles automatically became king after Elizabeth’s death, and his official proclamation ceremony is expected to take place today, Saturday, at St. James’s Palace in London. Having ascended the throne at an older age than any of his predecessors in the institution’s history, and facing a number of family and other scandals, the new king is considered much less popular than his mother.

Internationally, the United Kingdom’s friends and rivals put aside their differences for a moment to say goodbye to a figure who has been an integral part of international life for seven decades. US President Joe Biden, who the White House announced yesterday will attend the funeral, called Elizabeth “a head of state of unparalleled dignity and stability that has deepened the unwavering alliance between the United States and the United Kingdom.”

For his part, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier emphasized that in the post-war years, “Great Britain extended a hand of reconciliation to Germany, and this hand was the hand of the Queen,” and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, in his own condolences, said that the Queen “rightfully enjoyed love and respect for their subjects, as well as authority on the world stage.