A grandmother who transformed her home into a museum containing the world's largest collection of royal memorabilia has paid a heartfelt tribute to the Queen.
Anita Atkinson is the proud owner of 12,777 pieces of royal memorabilia dating back to King George III. The 65-year-old said she has collected the items for around 46 years and has 5,000 on the life of Queen Elizabeth II.
She runs the royal memorabilia museum from her farm near Crook in County Durham and gives talks about the Royal Family. On Thursday, she was left devastated by the passing of Britain's longest-reigning monarch at Balmoral Castle in Scotland.
Anita, who has three children and five grandchildren, is currently flying the Union Jack flag outside her home at half mast. She plans to travel to London on Friday and remain there during the official period of mourning.
She said: "I feel like I have been hit with a brick. I have surprised myself because I'm not an emotional person, I suppose I have learnt from the Queen to never show emotion, but I couldn't help myself. I can't quite believe it, I just feel flattened.
"I can't get my head around it. I feel like I have lost a close family member. I have never known myself to be like this in my life. I am looking at trains to go to London, I just feel like I want to be there.
She's been the one constant in my life. She took the place of my mother and she was the woman I could look up to as a mother figure. She's been my role model through motherhood and through grand motherhood, I don't know where I go next.
"It's just going to be so different and difficult to come to terms with. I really don't know how I can live in the same way without the Queen in my life."
Anita has the museum within her home as well as a library, which contains books, newspapers and magazines dedicated to the Royal Family. She has been giving talks about them since 1981 and opens up her collection to the public on special occasions.
She said that her fascination with the Royal Family began at a very young age. Anita said she remembers her mother having a cabinet with a royal crockery set and wanting to wear her cousin's red, white and blue dress as a child, despite describing herself as a tomboy.
The royal enthusiast, who was the former editor of the Westmorland Gazette in County Durham, said: "I don't have a memory of when I didn't want to know about the Royal family. I remember I was interested in the Queen from being a little girl.
"I think originally I was a little girl fascinated by the concept of a queen who wore a crown. I have got 1500 Royal books and there's not many I haven't read!
"I started my own collection quite by accident. That was in 1976 just before the Silver Jubilee. For 45 years I have collected royal memorabilia."
Anita opened her museum between 9am and 2pm on Friday so visitors could sign a Book of Condolence. She plans to travel to the capital where she will spend the next few weeks paying her respects to The Queen.
Anita is no stranger to landmark events surrounding the Royal Family. She has previously camped out for days to get a good spot on the procession route while fully decked out in Union Jack clothing and memorabilia.
She said: "The story of the Queen's life is the story of my life, she was Queen five years before I was born. For anyone under 70 it is the whole of our lives. I will be staying down in London for the whole duration."
Just two days before her death, the Queen appointed Liz Truss as the new Prime Minister. Anita said: "She was clearly not well then but she did her duty, which is what she promised she would do. She's never once let us down.
"I say to people when I do my talks 'Don't forget when she goes to bed at night she's the Queen and when she wakes up she's the Queen'. She goes on holiday but she can never be off-duty.
"She certainly is legendary, she will go down in history with the greatest women in the world. She was just absolutely incredible."
How does Anita feel about the Queen's eldest son Prince Charles now taking the throne and becoming King Charles III?
She added: "He will make a good kind, he's a good man. I'm a monarchist, I support the crown and whoever wears it."
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