Queen Elizabeth was the rock on which modern Britain was built, says PM Truss

FILE PHOTO: Britain's Queen Elizabeth II waves as she arrives for the final day of the Cheltenham Festival horse racing meeting in Gloucestershire, western England, Britain, March 13, 2009. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez/File Photo

LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Liz Truss hailed Queen Elizabeth on Thursday as the "very spirit of Great Britain" and the rock on which modern Britain was built after the monarch died peacefully at her home in Scotland.

Speaking outside her Downing Street office and residence, Truss said the queen had been "a personal inspiration to me and to many Britons".

"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 said.

(Reporting by Kylie MacLellan, writing by Elizabeth Piper)