Queen Mum, 101, dies in sleep

LONDON (AFP) — Britain’s Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, born in the final years of the Victorian era, died peacefully in her sleep Saturday aged 101, Buckingham Palace announced.

Regarded as one of the best loved members of Britain’s royal family, her death came just six weeks after that of her younger daughter, Princess Margaret, at the age of 71.

The double royal tragedy has cast a pall over celebrations this year to mark the 50 years that her elder daughter, Queen Elizabeth II, has held the British throne.

"The Queen, with the greatest sadness, has asked for the following announcement to be made immediately: her beloved mother, Queen Elizabeth, died peacefully in her sleep this afternoon at Royal Lodge, Windsor," the Palace announced in its statement.

The queen was at her mother’s bedside at Windsor Castle, west of London, when she died at 3:15 p.m. following weeks of illness.

A Palace spokesman added: "Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother had become increasingly frail in recent weeks following her bad cough and chest infection over Christmas."

"Her condition deteriorated this morning and her doctors were called," the spokesman said.

Heir to the British throne, Prince Charles, his sons Prince William and Prince Harry, were said to be "completely devastated" after being informed of the news during their skiing holiday in Switzerland.

They were due to cut short their holiday and fly back to Britain early yesterday.

The Queen Mother’s coffin was expected to be taken to the Royal Chapel of All Saints in the grounds of Windsor Castle yesterday.

She will be interred beside her late husband King George VI after a funeral at London’s Westminster Abbey.

Although the funeral date has yet to be announced, the mourning period is expected to last up to 10 days.

Parliament is to be recalled from its Easter break so politicians can pay formal tribute, with a date expected to be announced yesterday.

The Queen Mother’s death sparked a wave of tributes here and abroad, led by Prime Minister Tony Blair, while crowds quickly gathered outside Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and her official London residence Clarence House.

"She was part of the fabric of our nation and we were immensely proud of her," said Blair. "Along with her husband, King George VI, she was also a symbol of our country’s decency and courage."

US President George W. Bush and Commonwealth Secretary General Don McKinnon said they were "deeply saddened" while Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien called her a "touchstone of timeless values."

The Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey, head of Anglicans around the world, said the nation was "all the poorer" now she had gone, while the leader of Roman Catholics in England and Wales, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, said she "bore the virtues so beloved by the British people of courage and steadfastness".

At Buckingham Palace, the British flag flew at half mast as a large crowd, gathered in a mood of sadness and bewilderment, laid piles of bouquets.

One tribute written on a card accompanying flowers read: "I really don’t know what to say, our nation lost its grandmother today."

Janet Waistell, 51, said: "I feel it is a privilege for me to be here today. The Queen Mother represented everything that was good about this country. She was so determined and so well loved."

At Windsor Castle, the Royal Standard flew at full mast as royal tradition dictates – it is only lowered when a reigning monarch dies.

Lynne Willis, 36, sobbed outside its gates as she and her two children paid their respects.

"It’s terrible, it’s a sadness to everybody," she said.

Books of condolence are to be opened yesterday at St James’s Palace, London, and at the Palace of Holyrood house, Edinburgh, said Buckingham Palace.

Television and radio made radical changes to their programming. BBC channels carried rolling news, refusing to broadcast the national lottery draw as a mark of respect.

Commercial radio played somber music. One station has suspended all advertisements until today.

The former Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon lived close to Britain’s constitutional center as it declined from the last great world empire to the present-day middle-weight island uncertain of its position between Europe and the United States.

Born to privilege, she grew up at Glamis Castle, in Scotland, where the children of King George V and Queen Mary were frequent visitors.

One of these, the shy, stammering Albert, later to become King George VI, she eventually married.

The origins of her Mother-of-the-Nation persona began during World War II, when she insisted on remaining in London during the bombing and accompanied the king on visits to badly damaged areas of the city.