London: As the sky turns grey over the flag flying at half mast at Buckingham Palace, the rain that was on and off all day suddenly becomes heavy.
“England is crying,” a young woman says as she puts up her umbrella.
Crowds gather outside Buckingham Palace in London on Friday after the Queen’s death was announced.Credit:AP
This personification is perhaps the best way to articulate the mood of a nation as it begins to mourn the loss of its Queen – a woman who, in the eyes of her people, kept the country steady for seven decades.
With every minute that passes after the death of her majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, hundreds more flock to the gates of the palace. Some come with flowers, others with champagne. Some are FaceTiming family members, and others are trying to absorb the news.
Most are in shock. Just months ago, large groups gathered to celebrate the nation’s longest reigning monarch at her Platinum Jubilee. But the joy that flooded through the palace walls back then is gone.
This time, people don’t even know why they are standing at the gates. They are mostly silent, looking up at the flag as rain trickles down their faces and umbrellas.
The notice posted by members of the royal household on the gates of Buckingham Palace announcing the death of the Queen.Credit:WPA Pool/Getty
They try not to trample one another in the search for evidence that what is happening is real. When they finally find what they are looking for – the white note in a wooden photo frame – they are shaken. They don’t move.
“The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon,” it says.
A young man in a suit can’t explain why he is there – he came from a pub nearby when he heard the news. He says he just needed to come. A young student who regularly passes the palace says the same thing. So does the tourist visiting from Switzerland.
“It’s so sad,” one woman says to her friends. “Not just for us. She’s a grandma and a mother.”
Metres away from them, three men embrace and wipe their eyes as their white shirts become drenched by the rain. “We’ll always remember this. It’s a sad day,” one says.
Not everyone is standing quiet and still. Some are drinking a bottle of rosé while a group of men exhale on their cigarettes.
A group of French boys film themselves climbing up the Victoria Memorial. A man sits wrapped in an English flag with a candle that he lights every time the rain puts it out. A teenager tries to take her daily BeReal post (a picture of herself) among the mourners.
But at the gates, everything is quiet. Prolonged silences are broken by clapping, a rendition of the national anthem and a group of people singing Amazing Grace who sway with the torches of their phones.
The note from Buckingham Palace is surrounded by flowers: daisies, tulips, sunflowers and roses. A note sits against one bunch: “Rest In Peace, your majesty. Thank you for all you’ve done for us.”
A young woman pushes a pram up to the gates to lay flowers. She takes a photo of her daughter in front of them. “For Grandma,” she says.
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