SUNRISE, Fla. – British expatriates and other South Florida residents mourned the loss of Britain’s longest-reigning monarch Thursday.
Local 10 News was at The King’s Head British Pub in Sunrise as they learned the news.
“Oh, she just passed away!” Linda Wise said.
Wise runs the British Corner Market next door, where the Queen’s image is next to the Cadbury eggs and the Beatles.
“Who’s more popular, Beatles or the queen?” Local 10 News reporter Glenna Milberg asked.
“The queen,” Wise said. “Absolutely, the queen.”
The monarch made her first and only visit to South Florida in 1991, visiting Booker T. Washington Middle School and Vizcaya Museum & Gardens.
Non-British South Floridians mourned too.
“To live that long and be as gracious in front of the world kind of life is very remarkable,” Randy Ryder said.
Wise said while the monarchy as an institution has its supporters and those who’d like to see it gone, there’s universal respect for the woman who, in her 20s, pledged to lead her countrymen and women and did so with unfailing grace and duty.
“She’s been our queen for years and gave her life up for it,” Wise said.