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Queen Elizabeth II, the longest-serving monarch in British history and an icon instantly recognizable to billions of people around the world, has died aged 96, Buckingham Palace said on Thursday. 

Flags were lowered at Buckingham Palace following the Queen's death.

According to centuries of protocol, her eldest son, Charles, 73, takes over as king immediately, ushering in a new, less certain chapter for the royal family after the queen's record-breaking 70-year reign.

New King Charles calls mother's death 'a moment of the greatest sadness'.

Her death comes after crowds gathered outside the Buckingham Palace residence in London as concerns about her health were growing.

As many as 100 people braved torrential rain to stand at the palace gates, while senior royals rushed to Balmoral in Scotland, where the Queen was being treated. 

AFP journalists witnessed royal family members, including Prince William, arrive Thursday afternoon at Queen Elizabeth II's Balmoral residence in Scotland after her health deteriorated.

Prince William, the Queen's grandson and second in line to the throne, as well as the monarch's middle son Prince Andrew and her youngest son Prince Edward, arrived at the castle in a car.

The Queen's heir Prince Charles and his sister, Princess Anne, were already at the residence.