Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Thursday the country felt a deep and personal sense of loss at the passing of Queen Elizabeth, paying his tribute to the monarch.

"She seemed so timeless and so wonderful that I am afraid we had come to believe, like children, that she would just go on and on," Johnson said.

"Wave after wave of grief is rolling across the world, from Balmoral — where our thoughts are with all the Royal Family — and breaking far beyond this country and throughout that great Commonwealth of nations that she so cherished and which cherished her in return."