Britain's Queen Elizabeth dies peacefully at Scottish home aged 96

FILE PHOTO: Britain's Queen Elizabeth waits in the Drawing Room before receiving Liz Truss for an audience, where she invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative party to become Prime Minister and form a new government, at Balmoral Castle, Scotland, Britain September 6, 2022. Jane Barlow/Pool via REUTERS

BALMORAL, Scotland (Reuters) - Queen Elizabeth, Britain's longest-reigning monarch and the nation's figurehead for seven decades, has died aged 96, Buckingham Palace said on Thursday.

"The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon," it said in a statement.