BBC News UK

The UK press reflect on the end of an era, in their first editions after the Queen's death.

"He [Huw Edwards] was speaking very, very slowly, but with exactly the layer of gravelly Welsh gravitas the occasion demanded. It chooses a photograph of then-Princess Elizabeth, taken in 1952, looking straight into the camera with a determined gaze. [The Guardian points out](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/sep/08/queen-elizabeth-ii-obituary) that her reign saw some of the greatest changes in industrial, economic, technical and social development of any era. [its lead story](https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/queen-elizabeth-ii-dies-sfcmbcqgc), reporter Valentine Low says "history will deliver its verdict in the fullness of time but it is hard to conceive of her being remembered as anything other than one of the greatest monarchs in our history". Its front page carries a black and white portrait of the Queen in her later years with a still, gentle smile. But you couldn't help admire how the Queen did her duty, got on with her job and never complained." [The Financial Times abandons business news ](https://www.ft.com/content/a30366d6-998b-4b32-9193-11d2d66203cb)for its front page, dedicating it almost entirely to a beaming Queen. The Times' back cover carries a quotation from the Queen's Christmas broadcast in 1957, the first to be televised: "I cannot lead you into battle. [the paper says](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-11195469/JAN-MOIR-Solemn-Bible-BBC-caught-moment-best.html) the mood on-screen on the BBC was "as solemn as a Bible". It describes her death as a "watershed moment in the life of the nation". Here are their historic front pages. [lets the striking picture of the newly-crowned monarch stand alone](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/sep/08/queen-elizabeth-ii-britains-longest-reigning-monarch-dies-aged-96) - other than her name and dates of her reign - while the Times adds the words: "A life in service."