Queen Elizabeth II's Passing Sparks Emotion: 'Her Death Was A Sad Day'

LONG ISLAND, NY — The death of Queen Elizabeth II Thursday has left much of the world cloaked in mourning, paying tribute to a monarch who served on the throne for 70 years.

According to the Associated Press, the queen, who died at her summer home at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, was the second-longest reigning monarch in history.

As news of her death spread, Anglophiles worldwide weighed in on a woman who many said impressed them until her last days as she continued to work this week, appointing Liz Truss as the new prime minister. Her son Prince Charles became king upon her death.

Headlines worldwide echoed with the loss as scores turned to social media to express their feelings. From the hardware store to schoolyards, supermarkets and office buildings, those who've followed the Royal Family for years spoke out on a woman who defined a chapter of history.

On Long Island and across the globe, people shared their personal feelings on the collective loss.

Gwen Groocock, who lives on the North Fork but has dual citizenship in England and the United States — she also lived in England and attended school there — paid homage. "Thank you to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II for her long service, grace, and unwavering dedication, and may she rejoin her beloved husband in the blessed beyond," she said. "Long live the King."

Groocock said she believes many gained more of an appreciation of her character and dedication as she got older. "Maybe as we got older, too," she said. "The best lesson she taught us is probably the famous attitude of 'Keep Calm and Carry On.' It sums up an ideal about the national character of Great Britain, and it’s one that she actually embodied. But what’s been most poignant in her later years had been seeing the deep relationship between her and her husband, Prince Phillip. It seems like they were truly in love all their lives."

Joanna Lesley of Cutchogue, who was born and raised in England and is still a British citizen, also spoke of her sorrow: "For all the British people throughout the world, she was not just The Queen, she was Our Queen. A constant and steady presence throughout my life, her death yesterday was a sad day for my family, marking the end of a remarkable, long-lived life and the second Elizabethan era. God bless the Queen. Long live the King."

Lesley emphasized that it was important that Camilla, Charles' wife, is referred to as the Queen Consort. "Not as Queen Camilla, as one of the British tabloids has blundered today. Diana will never be forgotten," she said.

Lesley added that she is looking forward to seeing the grand scale of all the pomp and ceremony over coming weeks and months to come — the funeral, the proclamations, the town criers, the coronation, "all carefully prepared and choreographed by Operation London Bridge has fallen. After that, I sense that many countries in the Commonwealth may seek to divest, a change long deferred out of affection and great respect until Her Majesty’s passing," she said.

Michael Heller, who spent years on the East End but recently relocated to Greece, was coincidentally in England on the day the Queen died. "I watched the events unfold live, sitting on a living room couch in Totnes, England, while visiting a British friend of mine. It’s been a sobering, surreal experience, seeing it firsthand from a local’s perspective," he said.

Alice Goldfeder, who lives in Mineola, has, like so many, watched the Royal Family from afar for a lifetime. For years, Americans have harbored a fascination for the Royal Family, rising in the wee hours to watch Princess Diana wed her prince and then, to grieve collectively as they watched her boys say good-bye to their beloved mother at her funeral.

Of the Queen, Goldfeder said: "I have always admired her strength and how she never wavered. Even being royal, she did her part in the war, put on a uniform and even used ration tickets for her wedding dress material. I admired her sense of humor, her long marriage and her dedication to England. I’m sad to see her gone. I always said I would love to dress like her once I hit 80," she said. "I’ve already started my pin collection."

Janet Tanke is a longtime Anglophile who lives in Queens but is currently visiting the UK: "We admired her because she was always dignified, kind to well-wishers, clearly cared about her country, and more so about her family. I loved her sense of humor, and I’m proud that a woman has gained the respect of people around the world not because of her looks or because she was married to a head of state, but because she was exemplary in her devotion to work and duty."

Others were not as enamored of the Queen over the years and found the grief expressed by Americans inexplicable. Chris Richardson, who once lived in England, said: "I'm not a Monarchist. But aside from that, if Americans are so distressed about the Queen, then why did they become a Republic? It's so bizarre."

Laura Euler of Montauk was also less than somber. "We don't have a 'queen.' We're Americans."