King Charles and Queen Consort arrive back in London ahead of first national address

Crowds gather to watch new monarch touch down in England for first time as king

King Charles and the Queen Consort have landed back in London following the Queen’s death in Balmoral.

The nation’s new king and his wife Camilla touched down at RAF Northolt in west London at 1.35pm on Friday after travelling back from Scotland.

A group of more than 100 people gathered to watch him land in England for the first time as king as two police helicopters circled overhead.

Police stopped traffic on West End Road as a convoy of four black cars, a black van and a police car exited the air base.

The King waved to the crowd which had gathered outside the exit as his car passed by.

He will meet prime minister Liz Truss on his arrival back in the capital before making his first national address as monarch at about 6pm.

The King was seen carrying what appeared to be a folder or file as he climbed out of a car at Aberdeen International Airport alongside the Queen Consort earlier on Friday.

The couple, both dressed in black, stopped to shake hands and speak with three people waiting beside a plane before they climbed on board.

King Charles and the Queen Consort have arrived back in London ahead of his first national address as monarch (Jonathan Brady/PA)

The King was pictured for the first time since his mother’s death as he sat in the back of a car with the Queen Consort in the front passenger seat while they were driven in convoy towards the airport.

Buckingham Palace announced he will be proclaimed at the Accession Council at 10am on Saturday in the State Apartments of St James’s Palace.

The King’s youngest son, Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, was the first royal to leave the Scottish residence on Friday morning after family members rushed to be by Queen Elizabeth II’s side following news doctors were concerned for her health.

King Charles III shook hands and spoke with three members of staff before climbing on board flight to London (Aaron Chown/PA)

Buckingham Palace later announced she died “peacefully” aged 96 at Balmoral on Thursday afternoon.

The Queen’s children - the Princess Royal, Duke of York and Earl of Wessex - travelled to Balmoral, as did the Duke of Cornwall and Cambridge, Countess of Wessex and Duke of Sussex.

Senior royals will have duties to perform in Scotland in the coming days when the Queen’s coffin begins its journey back to the capital but Harry was spotted leaving Balmoral at 8.15am on Friday. He later touched down at Heathrow Airport in London at 11:32am.

King Charles III stopped to shake hands and speak with three people waiting beside a plane before climbing on board (Aaron Chown/PA)

Harry and his wife Meghan Markle, who now live in the US, were coming to the end of a whistle-stop visit to Europe when the Queen died.

They are expected to stay in the UK to attend the Queen’s state funeral, likely be held on 19 September.

Charles III is the first King Charles since the 1600s and shares the official name with monarchs who reigned during one of the most turbulent periods in British history.

King Charles III and the Queen consort have left Balmoral en route to Aberdeen airport where they will fly back to London (Russell Cheyne/Reuters)

The new monarch chose to use his Christian name as his official name, as his mother did, breaking from royal tradition.

The reigns of father and son Charles I and Charles II spanned from 1625 to 1685 and saw the overthrow and restoration of the monarchy, the Great Fire of London, and the plague.

Charles I was the only British monarch to have been publicly tried and executed for treason, while Charles II - known as the Merry Monarch - spent many years in exile, fathering a dozen illegitimate children by numerous mistresses.