Crowds pay respects to Queen Elizabeth II outside Buckingham Palace

LONDON — Britons descended on Buckingham Palace in the heart of London on Thursday evening following the announcement of Queen Elizabeth II’s death.

The nation’s longest-reigning monarch, on the throne since 1952, was remembered as a steadying force as she ruled through post-World War II recovery, 1970s economic turmoil and recently the COVID-19 pandemic.

“For somebody to be devoting every day of their life, 70 years, to one thing nonstop takes a lot of guts, it takes a lot of honor, it takes a lot of grace,” Londoner Julian Thurbin said.

Thurbin left flowers at the palace gates and said he was inspired by Queen Elizabeth’s reluctance to get involved in divisive issues. “Very often, less is more,” he said.

Mourners placed flowers and notes on the gates of the palace, and occasionally broke out into fits of clapping and impromptu renditions of the British national anthem and other songs. Dozens climbed onto the Victoria Memorial, the massive, gilded bronze-topped monument in front of the palace, and its surrounding lion sculptures.

A number of the visitors were visibly in shock, including one young Briton who climbed the monument.

“It feels weird. The queen has been there my whole life,” Elliot Pratt said. “It’s almost become a running joke that the queen’s always there, and now she’s not. I’m still processing.”

The plaza in front of the palace and the surrounding parks, known as The Mall, were packed with visitors, nearly every one taking photos and video of the occasion. The palace’s flags were lowered to half staff to mark the death of the queen, who was 96 years old.

Sam Baylow is an American student who is studying abroad in London. He came to Buckingham Palace to witness history, he said.

“No one truly knew exactly what was the right thing to do; some people were singing, others were dead quiet and mourning,” Baylow said. “As a tourist, you always feel like you’re trying to know something that someone else already knows. For the first time in Britain, I felt like we were all on the same level. That we were all unsure.”

Anna Chataway, a London doctor, first heard the news while in the operating theater where the staff gave a moment of silence. She went directly to Buckingham Palace with her husband, neurology professor Jeremy Chataway, after work to lay flowers and pay their respects.

“She’s been a constant force throughout our lives. She’s offered the country care, and we owe her eternal gratitude,” Anna Chataway said. “Her sense of duty, putting her subjects first, is a great example to all and perhaps some of our politicians could take a leaf out of her book.”

“It’s obviously incredibly sad, but it gives us the chance to reflect on the history,” Jeremy Chataway said. “I think the royal family and The Firm have been preparing for this and they have already started modernizing the family and cutting back and moving on. We have every confidence in the future.” (The Firm is an informal title for the British royal family and its associated institutions.)

Crowds began to thin shortly before 8 p.m. as the sun set and rain picked up, but thousands chose to bear the weather in order to pay their respects. Metropolitan Police erected impromptu barricades shortly after, attempting to control the crowd, but visitors continued to push forward toward the palace gates.

The queen died at Balmoral Castle in Scotland on Thursday afternoon, according to the royal family, just days after making her final public appearance welcoming Liz Truss as the country’s newest prime minister. A number of family members were called to Balmoral Castle earlier Thursday, given doctors’ concerns about her health.

Queen Elizabeth’s son Charles, who is 73, now takes the throne and is known as King Charles III. His wife, Camilla, is queen consort.

Nick Robertson is a former Review-Journal reporting intern.