As she emerged from the Hall of Memory in Birmingham, where she had signed a book of condolence for the Queen, Eglon Harris was struggling to hold back tears.
“I can hardly talk about it, it’s so hard,” said the 64-year-old, a childcare provider who moved to the UK from Jamaica in 1969. “She was a year older than my mom, so she always put me in mind of her. Always wearing a hat, that was my mum. Always thinking of everyone else, that was my mum and the Queen was like that.”
She said while the focus was currently on the UK, it was important to remember many countries around the globe would be affected by the news. “There will be a lot of grief in Jamaica,” she said. “All the Commonwealth countries will miss her. Everyone will be mourning, it’s not just this country.”
Outside Birmingham Cathedral, Monica Ahir, 36, and her mother, Rani, 64, were laying flowers for the Queen having been inside to light a candle in her memory.
“We won’t find a lady like that again. She was beautiful and kind,” said Rani, who lives in Handsworth Wood, a suburb north of the city. “I lost my husband a few months ago and I feel like I’m here remembering both of them. I never come into the city but I felt like I needed to pay my respects.”
At an interfaith remembrance event in the peace gardens, dozens of people gathered to lay flowers and wreaths. Iqtidar Cheema, 42, attended wearing a blazer that belonged to his grandfather, who served in the British army and was awarded by the Queen.
“I feel personally impacted by this because I come from Pakistan, a country which is from the Commonwealth,” he said. “My grandfather always had stories to tell us about Great Britain and the Queen, so I always felt a strong affiliation with the monarchy.
“And as someone who studied and worked in this country as an immigrant, I think the Queen was the first monarch who reflected the diversity of this country. She was not just a defender of one faith, but a defender of the faiths.”
He felt the way in which the Queen “behaved so sympathetically to former colonies” had helped provide some “closure for the bad impacts of colonialism”.
“Although in our British context, the monarch doesn’t hold any real power, her moral power and her soft interventions on many issues was great,” he said.
Lionel Singer, 94, said he was surprised when he burst into tears on hearing the news on Thursday. “I’m devastated, I think she’s been the most unifying human face of this country, and the world, and I can’t see how she could ever be replaced,” he said.
“I’m rather concerned that this country could well lose its direction and become more politicised. Her contribution was immeasurable.”
By 11am on Friday, the condolence book in the city was already filling up with heartfelt messages to the late monarch. One simply read: “All my life you were there. Thank you, ma’am.”
