ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – Millions of people around the world are gathering Monday to say goodbye to Britain’s longest-running monarch, Queen Elizabeth II.
Her death marks the first time a monarch’s funeral will be televised. Everyone is watching history unfold as it happens.
Queen Elizabeth II will be laid to rest today.
— Brianna Andrews (@BriannaDAndrews) September 19, 2022
People are expected to gather at Kings Head British Pub to watch live coverage as the world says goodbye. @wjxt4 pic.twitter.com/mmJuGxKBIP
Queen Elizabeth the second served the United Kingdom for more than 70 years.
Ann Dyke opened Kings Head British Pub in St. Augustine around 5:30 a.m. Monday morning so people could have a place to pay their respects to the queen together.
She said it’s a tradition in England that she wanted to continue here in America. Dyke was born and raised in England and describes it as losing a grandma.
“It takes a lot of getting used to when you’ve had a monarch — particularly the queen — a monarch of more than 70 years, it’s just amazing. It’s like we’ve lost our grandma,” Dyke said.
It’s an end of an era for Britain’s longest-ruling monarch. Many of her followers can’t accept that she’s gone.
“On Tuesday she was saying goodbye to Boris Johnson and saying hello to Lacy Truss,” Dyke said. “That was on Tuesday, and then on Thursday, she was dead. It just happened so fast.”
Jason Birch, who lives in St. Augustine, is an American with ancestry dating tracing back to England. He never imagined that he would witness something like this in his lifetime.
“The ceremony was spectacular,” Birch said. “This is the first state funeral they’ve had since Winston Churchill died and it was well deserved, she was a great lady.”
Following her funeral, her coffin will travel through Central London to Wellington Arch, where she will be placed in a state hearse and travel to St. George’s Chapel. That’s where she will be buried.
The Royal Family tweeted out a new photo of the Queen Sunday night. It was taken to mark her majesty’s Platinum Jubilee.
Ahead of Her Majesty The Queen’s State Funeral, a new photograph has been released.
— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) September 18, 2022
The photo was taken to mark Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee - the first British Monarch to reach this milestone.
Tomorrow, millions will come together to commemorate her remarkable life. pic.twitter.com/UyVfjVvJgw
She became the first British Monarch to reach the milestone.
News4JAX is streaming the state funeral and committal service. You can watch live on-air, online and on News4JAX+.