Reign 'like a fairy tale': Tallahasseeans mourn the passing of Queen Elizabeth II

The world has shifted again.

That is how many felt when word came Thursday that Queen Elizabeth II, the earth’s longest reigning monarch – the charming, purse-carrying, Corgi-loving, ever-smiling presence most of us have known all our lives – had died.

Across the 117 countries Elizabeth was known to have visited, as well as in tiny outposts of civilization and nations that deplore monarchies for their pomp and expense, people have expressed the loss of what, for the seven decades of her reign, has felt like a constant for the world.

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The Tallahassee Democrat chatted with a few of them. From a Brit and her family, to committed Anglophiles, and an academic, each acknowledges the loss of a connection to our collective past, and savors the memories of Queen Elizabeth as a model the world will miss.

'People were very, very emotional'

Retired academic administrator Jeanette DeDiemar, a Carrabelle resident, was visiting England for the week and was a witness to two seismic news events – a new prime minister and the death of a queen.

“On Wednesday, the day after the Queen had met with the new prime minister, we began to hear advisements that she was under doctors’ care and that meetings were being cancelled,” she said.

Later, as news came that the family was being summoned to Balmoral in Scotland, “we sensed that things were very dire.”

DeDiemar, whose husband is British, says that later, as she was checking into her hotel following the news of the death, “people were very, very emotional… weeping, remembering. They just all loved her.”

She says that one cabbie told her, “Her reign was really like a fairy tale. You tell your children… with all the good things, as well as the problems.”

Speaking late on Thursday before flying back home, DeDiemar said that there were “thousands of people in front of Buckingham Palace… all of them respectful and very, very sad.”

Going forward, she says her sense is that the public may have some trepidations about the new King Charles III, but “they adore Prince William and Kate.”

DeDiemar grows quiet on the telephone line to London, then says, “It’s raining now… I think I kind of see those falling drops as tears.”

'She was just darling'

Florida State Professor, Sally Karioth, is an Anglophile through and through. She has taught summer session at the University of London and FSU’s overseas program for the last 25 years. And she has had a number of “up-close” encounters with the Queen.

Talking about Elizabeth like a friend she stays in touch with, Kairoth says, “She was just darling. During the Jubilee, she was doing 5 to 10 things a day… even coming to one of them in riding clothes! Now, sadly, her little batteries have just worn out.”

Karoith, who says her own office is always decorated in “British flags and pillows,” notes that the palace has always been prepared for the contingency of a royal death.

“All of them travel with black clothing just in case, and black crepe had already been prepared to cover 10 Downing Street’s door.”

'Backdrop to everyone's lives'

Another Florida State professor, Diane Roberts, who earned her Ph.D. at Oxford and has spent “chunks of time” in England since the 1980s, notes that even people who didn’t give much thought to the Queen are experiencing a deep sadness.

“She was just always there — like air; part of a backdrop to everyone’s lives … including Americans.” Even those who criticize the parts the English monarchy played during the slave trade, colonization, and perpetuation of inequality, says Roberts, can “still hold Elizabeth II in enormous regard, even love.”

'Like a beloved family member'

At the Little English Guesthouse on Timberlane Road in Tallahassee, British-born owner  Tracy Cochran says her telephone has been constantly ringing since the Queen’s passing.

“Family members and friends have been calling just to express their shock and disbelief” — even though, given the Queen’s age and state of health, everyone knew this day would come. “Still, we are all shocked and surprised.”

Cochran says the Queen was “like a beloved family member. She just provided a certain stability to the days of our lives that was comforting.”

As to the future, the guesthouse proprietor says that she imagines Charles as king will “streamline” the functioning of the monarchy, “cutting some costs along the way.” “But he won’t get rid of all the pomp. We like it. And of course, the tourists do too.”

Marina Brown can be contacted at mcdb100@comcast.net.

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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: 'Always there': Tallahasseeans mourn the death of Queen Elizabeth II