A British woman tweeted a photograph of a cloud formation like Queen Elizabeth floating over a town in England, which was snapped barely one hour after the monarch’s death.
Leanne Bethell, a resident of Telford in England’s west Midlands, uploaded the image on Facebook and noted that it resembled the Queen wearing her signature hat.
‘Driving home and Lacey starts shouting OMG! I panicked. Then she pointed this image out in the clouds,’ Ms Bethell said on Facebook.
Brits weighed in on the oddly shaped cloud formation.
‘You only see it if you look for it. Maybe it is a sign or maybe we are just looking for a sign from above, who really knows,’ one wrote.
‘All I do know is this lady devoted her life to us so with the utmost respect. R.I.P Queen Elizabeth II,’ one user commented.
‘My girly Liz always watching over us,’ wrote another.
A double rainbow also appeared over Buckingham Palace alongside another one at Windsor Castle this afternoon, with many saying the Queen ‘sent us a sign’ and that she has ‘really left us’.
One twitter user said: ‘The rainbow at Windsor Castle made me cry. The rainbow Queen sent us a sign.’
Another said: ‘A rainbow breaks out, as the Union Jack is lowered to half-mast at Windsor tonight. A remarkable image. Farewell, Ma’am.’
Others took it as a sign that the Queen has ‘really left us’ as the rainbows appeared shortly as the news of the monarch’s death was announced.
In the hours before Queen Elizabeth’s death, the royal family went to Balmoral to say their last farewells.
A spokesman for Buckingham Palace issued a statement at 3.30am AEST announcing her death, stating, “The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon.” The King and Queen Consort will spend the night in Balmoral and return to London tomorrow.
The United Kingdom and its Commonwealth states will observe a ten-day period of mourning.
The royal train will transport the Queen’s coffin to London, where she will lay in state for four days in Westminster Hall at the Houses of Parliament, where hundreds of thousands of people will be able to pay their respects.
The state funeral is planned to take place in Westminster Abbey in central London on Monday, September 19, in the presence of 2,000 heads of state, prime ministers and presidents, European royals, and prominent public figures from across the world.
Charles, who will reign as King Charles III, today said: ‘The death of my beloved mother, Her Majesty The Queen, is a moment of the greatest sadness for me and all members of my family.
‘We mourn profoundly the passing of a cherished sovereign and a much-loved mother. I know her loss will be deeply felt throughout the country, the Realms and the Commonwealth, and by countless people around the world.
‘During this period of mourning and change, my family and I will be comforted and sustained by our knowledge of the respect and deep affection in which the Queen was so widely held.’