Charles moves to center stage after Queen's death

STORY: The day after Queen Elizabeth's death and amid personal and public mourning, King Charles stepped into the spotlight on Friday. (September 9)

The new monarch joined people outside Buckingham Palace to see the flowers, candles, and messages left for his late mother - the only monarch most Britons ever knew.

The death of Britain’s longest-reigning monarch, and a towering presence on the world stage for seven decades, has drawn sympathy and condolences from around the nation - and all corners of the world.

The fact Queen Elizabeth died at Balmoral in Scotland has added an extra element to the carefully planned sequence of mourning and funeral planning.

Her coffin will lie in rest at St. Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh. From there she will be brought back to London where she will lie in state ahead of an elaborate state funeral.

It will be attended by many thousands - from world leaders to regular people touched by her 70 years on the throne.

While most carried on as usual on Friday - it was against a backdrop of preparation and veneration.

Gun salutes, tolling bells, flags at half mast, billboard tributes, a phalanx of London's black cabs - alongside news that some sporting and cultural events are cancelled, planned postal worker and rail worker strikes are also off,

and nothing like business as usual for Britain's politicians.

A first meeting between the new king and the new prime minister was top of the political schedule for Britain's new head of state and Liz Truss.

For the royal family - for her family - private grief will be mixed with heavy public duty in the coming days.