Breaking News: Queen Elizabeth II has passed away at age 96

Queen Elizabeth II has died at the age of 96 following health concerns that arose earlier this morning. According to the BBC, the royal family gathered at their Scottish estate out of concern for deteriorating health.

Her eldest son, Charles, former Prince of Whales, will lead the country in wake of her death.

In a statement released by Buckingham Palace, the Queen died, “peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon.”

When English teacher Ann Flurry heard the news, she announced the death to her class.

“I was writing something, and Ms. Flurry said the Queen is dead,” sophomore Drew Heese said. “And I didn’t know what to think. I thought I misheard something.”

The news hits Flurry hard, as she has been following the Royal family since childhood.

“It’s one of those moments that I asked every one in class [to stop and] mark what time it is, what you’re doing,” Flurry said, “because this is one of those moments in history [where] people will be talking about where they were [when it happened].”

Sophomore Mae Audus predicts that the internet will have a strong reaction to the death.

“I think there are going to be a lot of jokes and there’s definitely going to be those ‘predicting the Queen’s death’ pages that will be like, ‘I was right.’”

Queen Elizabeth II’s reign lasted from 1952 to 2022, making her the longest reigning monarch in the United Kingdom’s history.