Edward Rodgers helps his daughter, India, lay flowers following the announcement of the death of Queen Elizabeth, at the British Embassy in Washington, U.S., September 8, 2022. (REUTERS)
LONDON聽 鈥� As world leaders paid tribute to Queen Elizabeth on her death aged 96 on Thursday, ordinary people in Britain and around the globe paid their own respects to a woman who had been the face of her nation for more than 70 years.
On a rainy London night, thousands gathered outside Buckingham Palace, in central London, some laying floral tributes outside the black iron gates. There were similar scenes outside the queen鈥檚 Windsor Castle home.
Portraits of Elizabeth were posted on billboard screens in central London鈥檚 Piccadilly Circus and the city鈥檚 Canary Wharf financial district, and also across the Atlantic in New York鈥檚 Times Square. Flowers were laid outside the British Consulate General in New York.
In Washington, the U.S. flag was lowered to half staff to mark the passing of a monarch whose legacy President Biden said 鈥渨ill loom large in the pages of British history, and in the story of our world鈥�.
Her death was also marked in European cities.
In Berlin, flowers and candles were laid outside the British Embassy, while in Venice 鈥淕od Save the Queen鈥�, the British national anthem, was played outside the Italian city鈥檚 Festival Buildings.