U.S. President Joe Biden, first Lady Jill deliver statement on passing of Queen

The Royal Family’s official account on Twitter was the first to announce Queen Elizabeth II’s passing after 70 years in power.

Two minutes prior to the BBC’s own statement on the platform at 6.30 p.m. local time, @RoyalFamily tweeted that the long-serving queen had “died peacefully at Balmoral.”

In response to the passing of their fellow international leader Queen Elizabeth II, President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden have released a statement.

“Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was more than a monarch,” the statement on the White House website began. “She defined an era. In a world of constant change, she was a steadying presence and a source of comfort and pride for generations of Britons, including many who have never known their country without her.”

“An enduring admiration for Queen Elizabeth II united people across the Commonwealth,” the message continued. “The seven decades of her history-making reign bore witness to an age of unprecedented human advancement and the forward march of human dignity.”

The 46th President and the lifelong educator continued by highlighting how the monarch had such a strong bond with her subjects as they watched her life play out in the media over the years.

“She was the first British monarch to whom people all around the world could feel a personal and immediate connection — whether they heard her on the radio as a young princess speaking to the children of the United Kingdom, or gathered around their televisions for her coronation, or watched her final Christmas speech or her Platinum Jubilee on their phones,” they continued. “And she, in turn, dedicated her whole life to their service.”