'Real sense of loss.' Queen Elizabeth remembered as Britain's 'calming influence'

Growing up in the tiny village of Thursby in northwest England just a few miles from the border of Scotland, Marc Broomby recalled being 6 or 7 when his entire school stood by the side of the road as Queen Elizabeth II drove through town.

"We all stood there waving our little (Union Jack) flags, and she was driving through at about 40 mph," Broomby said with a laugh.

Like many Brits around central Illinois, Broomby, who owns a packing and shipping company in Illiopolis and is bassist/vocalist for the country band Brushville, was glued to the news Thursday that brought word of the death of the 96-year-old monarch, who spent 70 years on the throne.

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Broomby said his father, two days younger than the new king, 73-year-old Charles III, has, like many others, no distinct memory of any other monarch than Elizabeth.

Charles automatically became king upon his mother's death, although his coronation is months away. Camilla, Charles' second wife, will be known as the Queen Consort.

A funeral for Elizabeth, who died at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, will be held after 10 days of official mourning.

The queen's death comes just two days after she appointed foreign secretary Liz Truss as prime minister to succeed Boris Johnson.

It also comes, local Brits noted, against the backdrop of the still messy Brexit, the United Kingdom's departure from the European Union, and the question of Scottish independence, let alone the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia's war with Ukraine.

Chris Ratcliffe, who came to the U.S. from England in 2001, saw Elizabeth as "a calming influence" for the country.

"She's managed to thread that needle over the decades," Ratcliffe, a senior systems administrator for Hanson Information Services, Inc., said Thursday. "She hasn't been controversial. She hasn't provoked problems. You couldn't ask for a more professional monarch."

Broomby, who is living in the U.S. on a green card, said he didn't like certain aspects about the royal family, "but I liked the queen. They're obviously a big draw for tourism."

For University of Illinois Springfield associate history professor Kenneth Owen, an endearing image of Elizabeth was eating marmalade sandwiches with Paddington Bear in a video as part of the queen's jubilee celebration this summer.

"It speaks to the way that the queen had become an icon of Britain," said Owen, who came to the U.S. from England in 2011 and has been at UIS for the past decade. "Even if people had ambivalent feelings, there was something that seemed very pleasant and reassuring about the queen's presence, and that image summed it up."

Local actress Mary Young took on the role of Elizabeth last year in a local production of "The Audience," which featured the queen in several one-on-one meetings with prime ministers through the years.

In preparation for the role, Young read "everything about (Elizabeth) I could lay my hands on" and watched hours of video, including parts of "Royal Family," a documentary that gave the public a behind-the-scenes look at the Windsors.

"She was wholly dedicated to what she was born into," said Young, program director for AIA (American Institute of Architects) Illinois. "I have no doubt that it happened much too soon, sooner than she expected. She was suddenly thrust into this responsibility. But what was very apparent to me was that she stepped up to her calling and fully embraced it. This was part of her faith."

Young said she also got a sense of the queen's human touch.

"We see all this pomp and circumstance, but she was very down to earth, very human," Young said. "She loved her children, loved her grandchildren, loved her animals. She and her family were flawed, and they had trials and dramas and setbacks, just like all of us. Of course, their lives are nothing like ours, but there was real humanity there that made her so beloved."

Owen said there will be inevitable questions about the future of the monarchy in Britain. Some detractors, he allowed, think it is anachronistic or out of step.

"In the 70 years of her reign, more people have questioned whether any monarchy is an appropriate institution around which to run the government," he said. "When the monarchy seemed to be a good servant, it's much harder to criticize the institution.

"I think there are a lot of people who, even if they're not fans of the institution of the monarchy or they're not particular fans of the royal family, at least respected that Elizabeth acted in accordance with a sense of duty, a sense of public service and adherence to what she saw as her moral code."

The monarchy, Broomby admitted, is part of "what makes Britain great. I think it's something that sets apart Britain apart from a lot of other countries. (The royal family) still has political power.

"There is a faction that is kind of anti-royalist and would like to see a change. I don't know if some people are going to try to push for a change (now, though)."

Broomby said he doesn't mind Charles personally.

"He's not as disliked as he was back (after the divorce from Princess Diana)," he said. "He's 73 now. His reign probably doesn't have that long, and people do like (Prince) William. I don't think anyone really sees Charles as the future of the monarchy. I think William is seen as the future of the monarchy."

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Charles, said Owen, may have gotten away with not offering comment on the more recent royal squabbles, but those days are gone now that he is king.

"I think that's going to be the big problem," he said. "There are clearly a number of issues within the royal family more generally that can lead to very negative publicity, many of which haven't been resolved.

"I think he's been very careful ever since he married Camilla to try to keep out of the public eye except as a figurehead. That's a much easier thing to do when you're the heir apparent and not the figurehead who has to be present at all important functions and has to be the person who leads the response to any crisis involving the royal family more generally."

Ratcliffe said Charles has "evolved over time and somewhat rehabilitated himself with the Diana generation," he said.

The two separated in 1992. Diana died in a Paris car crash in 1997.

In addition to following the news of Elizabeth on Twitter and other places Thursday, Young and several cast members from "The Audience" were messaging one another throughout the day.

As well as she knew her character, Young admitted she was grieving.

"I really feel, as much as I could as a silly local actor playing a part in an amateur play, that I came to know at least part of (Elizabeth) and the best way I can describe it is that the part of her that I came to know and connect to it feels like it died today," Young said. "So that part of me feels a real sense of loss."

Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788, sspearie@sj-r.com, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Springfield residents from Britain react to Queen Elizabeth II's death