LIZ Truss has described the Queen as “the rock on which modern Britain was built."
The Prime Minister - who met with the monarch just two days ago as she was appointed to the post - said the UK had “grown and flourished” under her 70-year reign.
She also urged the nation to come together to support the new King.
Speaking in Downing Street, the Prime Minister said: “Queen Elizabeth II was the rock on which modern Britain was built. Our country has grown and flourished under her reign.
“Britain is the great country it is today because of her. She ascended the throne just after the Second World War. She championed the development of the Commonwealth from a small group of seven countries to a family of 56 nations, spanning every continent of the world.
“We are now a modern, thriving dynamic nation. Through thick and thin, Queen Elizabeth II provided us with the stability and the strength that we needed.
“She was the very spirit of Great Britain, and that spirit will endure.”
Ms Truss also spoke about how the Queen had been a “personal inspiration” to her.
She said: “Earlier this week, at 96, she remained determined to carry out her duties as she appointed me as her 15th Prime Minister. Throughout her life she has visited more than 100 countries and she has touched the lives of millions around the world.”
Ms Truss said it was a “day of great loss.”
“Today the crown passes, as it has done for more than 1,000 years, to our new monarch our new head of state, His Majesty King Charles III.
“With the King's family, we mourn the loss of his mother. And as we mourn, we must come together as a people to support him, to help him bear the awesome responsibility that he now carries for us all.
“We offer him our loyalty and devotion. Just as his mother devoted so much to so many for so long.
“And with the passing of the second Elizabethan age, we usher in a new era in the magnificent history of our great country, exactly as Her Majesty would have wished, by saying the words ‘God save the King’.”
Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer said the Queen “created a special, personal relationship with us all” based on “service and devotion to her country”.
He told broadcasters: “Nobody under the age of 70 has known anything other than Queen Elizabeth II on the throne.
“For the vast majority of us, the late Queen has been simply the Queen.”
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