Prime Minister Liz Truss' statement in full following the death of The Queen

Prime Minister Liz Truss issued a statement on Thursday evening outside Downing Street, following the news of The Queen's passing. Buckingham Palace announced that Queen Elizabeth II passed away aged 96, at Balmoral, on September 8.

After a 70-year reign, the longest of any British Monarch, Queen Elizabeth passed away at the Scottish castle, where members of her immediate family rushed to be by her side.

She is the only British monarch to have celebrated a Platinum Jubilee - as Prime Minister Liz Truss paid tribute to her outside No10 on Thursday evening. In her statement she said the Queen was 'the very spirit of Great Britain' who was 'loved and admired' by the nation.

READ MORE Queen Elizabeth II, United Kingdom's longest ruling monarch, dies aged 96

It was on Tuesday (September 6) that Liz Truss flew to Balmoral to meet the Queen, where the new PM was invited to form a new Government.

Her statement in full said: "We are all devastated by the news we have just heard from Balmoral. The death of Her Majesty the Queen is a huge shock to the nation and to the world. 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 ascended the throne just after the Second World War. She championed the development of the Commonwealth - from a small group of seven countries to a family of 56 nations spanning every continent of the world.

"We are now a modern, thriving, dynamic nation. Through thick and thin, Queen Elizabeth II provided us with the stability and the strength that we needed.

"She was the very spirit of Great Britain – and that spirit will endure. She has been our longest-ever reigning