It is the end of an era for the United Kingdom, Canada and the world. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has died at the age of 96 following a brief illness. 

The Queen had been under close medical supervision at Balmoral Castle in Scotland since early in the day on Sept. 8. Members of the royal family, including Prince Charles, his wife, Camilla, and the Queen’s grandsons Prince William and Prince Harry quickly travelled to Aberdeenshire to be at her side. Shortly after 6:30 p.m. local time, Buckingham Palace announced Her Majesty had died “peacefully.”

Earlier this year, the world marked Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee. Among the nations celebrating her unprecedented and history-spanning 70 years on the throne was Canada, a country she visited more than any other Commonwealth nation. The Queen presided over some of the most significant events in this country’s history, including the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway, Expo ‘67, the 1976 Olympic Summer Games in Montreal, and the 1982 repatriation of the Constitution on Parliament Hill. And on a note of significance to this organization, it was Queen Elizabeth II who granted the Canadian Geographical Society the prefix “Royal“ in 1957. 

“Even knowing her great age and recent frailty, the news of the death of our beloved Queen, Elizabeth II, who dedicated her life to our country and the Commonwealth, is hard to accept,” says John Geiger, CEO of the RCGS. “What a remarkable gift of service her reign represented. We at the RCGS and Canadian Geographic join all those mourning this terrible loss.”

More to come …