HEARTS held a minute's silence as a "mark of respect" after the sad news of the passing of Queen Elizabeth II.

The tragic news was confirmed by The Royal Family this evening.

A short statement confirmed The Queen had died peacfully at Balmoral this afternoon.

The statement read: “The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon.

"The King and The Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow."

Hearts were at half-time in their Europa Conference League clash with Istanbul Basaksehir when the news was announced.

In a mark of respect to the nation's longest reigning monarch both Herts and Istanbul players wore black armbands for the second-half.

And a minute's silence was observed at Tynecastle.

A Hearts staement read: "The club is aware of the sad passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

"As a mark of respect, we will observe a minute’s silence at the start of the second half of tonight’s Europa Conference League match and both teams and the officials will wear black armbands."