Liz Truss spoke after the death of Queen Elizabeth II

The UK’s longest-serving monarch has died at Balmoral aged 96 after reigning for 70 years.

Truss said “we are all devastated” by the news of the Queen’s death, which is a “huge shock to the nation and the world”.

She describes the Queen as “a rock on which modern Britain was built”, adding that “Britain is the great country it is today because of her”.

She said the Queen was a personal inspiration to her, as well as to many Britons, “Her dedication to duty is an example to us all”.

“Today the Crown passes, as it has for over a thousand 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 we are together.

We offer him our loyalty and devotion, just as his mother has cost us so much for so long.”

She concludes her statement by saying that it is “the passing of the second Elizabethan age”.

Truss ends by saying “God save the king”.