‘We really feel actually upset’: Britons react to Queen Elizabeth II’s demise

Mourners gathered at Buckingham Palace on Thursday night to try to come to phrases with the information that Queen Elizabeth II had died. 

There was a mix of disbelief and misery.

“I suppose we felt today would come someday, and also you simply wouldn’t consider it – I used to be right here standing right here with my youngsters. I by no means met the Queen, I used to be right here in June and I felt I actually ought to come back,” stated John Harrison.

“Our entire lifetime has been within the Queen’s energy, so you already know – I can’t consider what’s occurred, I don’t assume we anticipated it, particularly along with her assembly Liz Truss. We really feel actually, actually upset,” stated Debbie Thomas.

“I feel it’s an actual time of transition. Not only a new PM however now a brand new monarch. It’s an actual time of transition for the nation,” stated Angus Kincaid.

Queen Elizabeth II is an icon of the twentieth and twenty first centuries – Britain’s longest-serving monarch. She’s remained the fixed on the coronary heart and the pinnacle of the UK institution and of Britain’s lifestyle. In a rustic which may seem bitterly divided at instances, she remained immensely well-liked as a uniting drive, a dependable supply of consolation in troubled instances and a Queen who might make harmony from discord.

“The world goes to be completely different,” stated Professor Chris Imafidon, a royal professional. “The commonwealth goes to be completely different, the English-speaking world goes to be radically completely different – as a result of her guiding hand… virtually each head of state, needed to come back and see the Queen for a particular purpose – 15 completely different prime ministers…”