FORMER Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May has paid tribute to The Queen in a Commons speech as she died aged 96.

Queen Elizabeth II was the longest-serving British monarch and recently celebrated her Platinum Jubilee with a weekend of celebrations taking place across the country.

The sad news was confirmed after members of the royal family travelled to Balmoral, where the Queen was laying in rest.

The House of Commons met at 12 pm today to pay tribute to the Queen’s life and reign.

Queen Elizabeth II - a tribute

Among the political figures that paid tribute was the former Prime Minister Boris Johnson who formally tendered his resignation to Her Majesty earlier this week and the leader of the opposition Sir Keir Starmer.

Theresa May pays tributes to Queen Elizabeth II in Commons speech

Theresa May, who served as PM between 2016 and 2019, told the Commons: “Queen Elizabeth II was quite simply the most remarkable person I have ever met”.

During her tribute in the Commons, Maidenhead MP Mrs May also recounted her weekly audiences with the monarch during her time as prime minister.

She said: “Across the nations of the world, for so many people, meeting Queen Elizabeth simply made their day and for many will be the memory of their life.

“Of course, for those of us who had the honour to serve as one of her prime ministers, those meetings were more frequent with the weekly audiences.

READ MORE: Keir Starmer describes the Queen as 'country's greatest monarch' in Commons tribute

READ MORE: Full list of closures and cancellations as Queen's death sparks national mourning

“These were not meetings with a high and mighty monarch, but a conversation with a woman of experience and knowledge and immense wisdom. They were also the one meeting I went to, which I knew it would not be briefed out to the media.”

The comment was met with laughter by MPs, before Mrs May added: “What made those audiences so special was the understanding the Queen had of issues which came from the work she put into her red boxes, combined with her years of experience.”

When will Charles become King?

Charles has automatically become King after the death of his mother, but an Accession Council is usually convened at St James’s Palace in London within 24 hours of the death of a sovereign.

It will be later following the death of the Queen because the announcement of her death did not come until early evening on Thursday, meaning there was not enough time to set the plans in motion for Friday morning.

Therefore Charles will be formally declared King at the Accession Council on Saturday, September 10.

The Queen's life in pictures

The Queen dies, aged 96

Born on April 21, 1926, during the reign of her paternal grandfather King George V Queen Elizabeth II went on the be Britain’s longest-reigning monarch.

The nation’s longest-reigning monarch reached her historic Platinum Jubilee of 70 years on the throne on February 6.

As the oldest daughter of King George VI, she became Queen following his death in 1952 while on a tour of Australia and New Zealand with her late husband, Prince Philip.

Her coronation took place the following year and she was crowned aged 27.

She has since become one of the most-loved figures around the world travelling more widely than any other monarch during her extraordinary reign.

Elizabeth II is the first British monarch in history to reach her Platinum Jubilee, and plans are in motion for a host of national festivities in June to mark the occasion.

Her reign has stretched from the post-war years through a new millennium and into a radically altered 21st century.

Her time on the throne has seen 15 prime ministers from the Second World War leader Sir Winston Churchill to Liz Truss.

She is survived by her four children: Charles, Prince of Wales; Anne, Princess Royal, Prince Andrew, Duke of York and Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex.