From the UK to 3,000 miles away in Boston – much of the world is mourning the loss of a queen who seemed larger than life.
Incredibly, after seven decades on the throne, at least nine out of every ten living human beings have never known a British monarch other than Queen Elizabeth II.
Royal experts say people connected with Elizabeth on a human level – as a wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother.
“She’s kind of like everybody’s grandmother, she’s someone we’ve always had and the thought of her not being there is disconcerting,” said Boston University Lecturer Dr. Kathryn Lamontagne.
Get New England news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NECN newsletters.
Lamontagne feels that deeply, after working in the royal household from 2011 to 2013.
“The queen was always so kind, she was so generous, soft spoken, but when you saw her in real life it was like you were approaching a living monument,” said Dr. Lamontagne.
And what a monumental life she had…holding her final formal audience with the 15th Prime Minister to be elected during her reign, just two days before her death.
During her monarchy, Queen Elizabeth met more than a dozen U.S. Presidents – from Harry Truman to Joe Biden.
In fact, in her third visit to the United States, the queen came to Boston in 1976, walking the streets with then-Mayor Kevin White, as tens of thousands of people came out to catch a glimpse of her.
Dr. Phil Budden, a former British Consul General to New England, says despite her 96 years of life well-lived, her death will still resonate throughout the world.
“I’m here in Britain and we are feeling it very keenly, but I know people from back home in Boston will also have felt a connection with her not least because she visited Boston," he said, "so I think this is really a shock for us all.”
The British Consulate-General in Boston is placing a condolence book at the Old North Church on Salem Street in Boston for public signing from Monday, Sept. 12, through Wednesday, Sept. 14, between 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
The queen's death is being felt throughout Boston, and a second condolence book in her memory was unveiled Friday at the JFK Library and Museum.
Elizabeth Orcutt, who is from England, was the first to sign the book.
“I wrote the Queen of my life… because she became queen before I was born,” Orcutt shared.
A virtual condolence book is also open at the Royal Family’s official website.
