A former housemaid at Buckingham Palace was among the many South Australians to share their memories of Queen Elizabeth II following the monarch's death at 96.
Amber Kemp, who served the Queen between 2005 and 2006, was woken to phone calls and text messages on Friday morning, informing her of the passing of the royal family's longest-serving monarch.
"I think my overarching reaction was just relief for the Queen, I think she's worked so hard for so long it's time for her to have a break and I knew she was never going to give it up before she passed away," she said.
Ms Kemp saw first-hand just how committed the Queen was in her role.
"She was just so dedicated to what she did and she never took it for granted," she said.
"The effects of her uncle's abdication were long-lasting and when she said she would serve for life, she really did mean it."
The Hahndorf resident said her role as a housemaid gave her a behind-the-scenes insight into the royal family's life.
"Hearing her have a mundane conversation with Phil or any of the other members of the royal family, or hearing her talk about a crossword clue or a quiz show she was watching in that iconic way, was just the most amazing thing."
Ms Kemp said the legacy Queen Elizabeth left was unmatched.
"One of servitude, honesty and kindness — Charles has got big shoes to fill without a doubt but I think he'll certainly stamp his own print on the reign, it'll be quite different."
Adelaide man Tony Salter was a butler to the Queen from 1991 to 1993 and said he would remember her kindness.
"She would stop and talk to us and ask us how we were, ask how our day was," he said.
"Knew our names, which I found quite extraordinary, but she knew all of us, she knew who we were and she must have had thousands of servants over the course of her reign."
'I felt I'd lost almost a friend'
The Queen visited South Australia seven times from 1954 to 2002.
Adelaide great-grandmother Diana Field was one of hundreds of children who performed a large-scale choreographed dance routine for the Queen at Wayville during her first visit.
"It was really very exciting," Mrs Field said.
"The day was lovely, everything was wonderful."
Mrs Field said she had spent years learning the dance routine and she felt the sense of occasion, even at the young age of 11.
"When it concluded, the Queen and the Duke were driven around the oval virtually amongst the children and we just ran after her," she said.
"You know, I could've touched the Land Rover as they went past, they were standing in an open Land Rover at the back waving to everyone, so it was very exciting to be that close to her."
Mrs Field said she remembered running out onto the streets and catching numerous glimpses of the young Queen during her 1954 visit.
"We'd find a vantage point as she passed along Grenfell Street, we'd see her and then we would run through the side streets and see her again driving along Rundle Street and North Terrace and so forth," she said.
"So I saw her a number of times during that visit, which I found quite exciting at the time.
"It was the crowds that impressed me also, everybody was so keen to see our Queen … she was such a lovely person and everybody that possibly could, turned out in the city."
Mrs Field said she later took her own children to see the Queen when the monarch visited Adelaide again in 1977.
"I was determined that they were going to be able to say they'd seen the Queen when they were young," she said.
Mrs Field said she was emotional when she heard the news of the Queen's death.
"I found it quite touching and emotional because she's been the Queen for most of my life," she said.
"I've always greatly admired and respected her in her devotion to duty and the way she's coped with all the ups and downs in life that everybody has that she seems to cope with so well, so I felt I'd lost almost a friend."
'She was such a beautiful lady'
Retired horticulturist Alan Mortimer, 78, shared his memory of meeting the Queen in 1986.
"I had the largest wholesale fern nursery in Australia at Gawler, and one of my plants was selected as the jubilee plant of the year," Mr Mortimer said.
"It was a very rare plant, a fern that I called 'Jubilee Queen'."
When Queen Elizabeth II visited Adelaide on her Royal Tour in 1986, Mr Mortimer and his children presented the fern to her.
"She took it back with her on the [Royal Yacht] Britannia with her, because the Queen was a plant lover. It was most unexpected," Mr Mortimer said.
"Can you imagine, meeting the Queen? I was just an ordinary Australian living in the bush. It was so special.
"When I met her, I was so nervous, but she made me feel so comfortable within the first few seconds it was just like I was talking to a neighbour, or a friend. She was such a beautiful lady.
"It was just one of those so unexpected things of life, it was just such a special occasion."
Residents in the northern suburb of Elizabeth, which was formed in 1955 and named after the Queen, visited the Playford Civic Centre on Friday to sign a book of condolence.
Members of the public can also sign a condolence book at Government House or leave tributes at the statue of Queen Elizabeth over the next 14 days.
