The King and Queen have led tributes to award-winning playwright Sir Tom Stoppard, who has died aged 88, describing him as “a dear friend who wore his genius lightly”.

In a statement released by Buckingham Palace, Charles said: “My wife and I are deeply saddened to learn of the death of one of our greatest writers, Sir Tom Stoppard.

“A dear friend who wore his genius lightly, he could, and did, turn his pen to any subject, challenging, moving and inspiring his audiences, borne from his own personal history.

“We send our most heartfelt sympathy to his beloved family. Let us all take comfort in his immortal line: ‘Look on every exit as being an entrance somewhere else’.”

Sir Tom, known for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Arcadia and the film Shakespeare In Love, died “peacefully”

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