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Blythe Reis walked to Buckingham Palace on Sept. 9. It was later in the day, and the newly-proclaimed King Charles III had left the area. Even without members of the royal family present, the crowd was packed near the palace’s gates, laying down flowers and pictures of Queen Elizabeth II.

Reis, a junior at Syracuse University studying abroad in London, said it was nearly silent despite the crowd’s expanse.

“You walked through this huge crowd of people, hundreds and hundreds of people standing outside,” Reis said. “I was whispering to my roommates because I thought if I talked above a whisper it was going to be like I was screaming.”

Queen Elizabeth II, the United Kingdom’s longest reigning monarch, died on Sept. 8 while at Balmoral Castle in Scotland. She was 96. Reis and other Syracuse University students studying abroad in England’s capital witnessed and experienced the city in the moments and days following the queen’s death.

Reis was in her flat with her five roommates when a Twitter notification hit her phone. Then a notification from The New York Times, then the local papers, then CNN. As it would be the next day at Buckingham Palace, Reis said the moment was silent.

Emma Knauf, a junior at SU studying in London, also went to Buckingham Palace the day following the queen’s death. The near silence surprised Knauf, too.

Knauf watched the 96 gun salute, one shot for each year the queen was alive, outside the palace. The ceremony lasted around 10 minutes, she said.

Ashley Torres, who is also an SU student studying abroad, was in a London gym when Buckingham Palace announced the queen’s death.

“I look down at my phone and then I look back up (at a television) because I hear a woman screaming actually, and she’s sobbing,” Torres said. “Chills came down all (over) my arms.”

Aside from the woman sobbing, the gym was silent, Torres said.

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Both Torres and Reis said being in London during the aftermath of the queen’s death was emotionally confusing. They felt they couldn’t fully comprehend the city’s silence as people who weren’t from the U.K.

“It feels weird experiencing this history when you’re not very knowledgeable about the queen,” Torres said.

Even though she wasn’t able to relate to people’s strong emotions, Reis said she could feel the energy throughout the city.

“The feeling radiating off everyone else (was) somber,” Reis explained. “You could tell that everyone was in shock, distraught, upset.”

While Yajie Lan also struggled to fully understand the monarchy, she initially felt shocked. Lan, along with some classmates, were walking along the River Thames when news of the queen’s passing hit people’s phones. The group stopped in its tracks, she said.

“The queen is a symbol for this country,” Lan said.

Knauf said she understood the sadness of those around her, even as someone not from the U.K.

“Like just the thought of losing a family member is sad by itself, but someone who here is such a big important figure?” Knauf said. “It’s pretty, pretty crazy.”

Photo Courtesy of Yajie Lan

Now, SU students are preparing for the weeks following her death.

The 10 days after the queen dies have been meticulously planned through the British government’s “Operation London Bridge.” Included in the plan is the queen’s state funeral service at Westminster Abbey this Monday, for which SU canceled classes in London.

Even with the upcoming funeral, Torres said that Londoners’ reactions have not all been mournful. Some people are going back to living their lives, she said.

“I only see (the sadness) when I go on the tube and people are heading toward Buckingham Palace,” she said. “But if I stay around my neighborhood, people aren’t as upset about it anymore.”

Even with peoples’ lives going back to a sense of normalcy, many of the SU students studying in London acknowledged the historical importance of the queen’s death.

“It felt surreal, like there’s no way that this just happened while we’ve been here for literally a week,” Reis said. “This is one of those big historical events that people are gonna be like, ‘Oh, where were you when the Queen died?’”

Published on September 14, 2022 at 11:41 pm

Contact Kyle: kschouin@syr.edu | @Kyle_Chouinard