Charles vows to reign with 'respect and love' as Britain mourns the queen
LONDON — Church bells pealed. Gun salutes boomed at parks and castles. Mourners lined up at monuments and pubs to pay homage to a woman whose name was for so long synonymous with their nation.
With some stiff upper lips and others that dared to quiver, Britons soldiered on Friday with the process of bidding goodbye to Queen Elizabeth II — the only monarch most of them have ever known — and adjusting to life under the reign of a new sovereign, her eldest son, King Charles III.
"It is simply odd," said Samuel Mackesy, a gift store worker in central London who on Friday was scrambling to order Elizabeth memorabilia while reflecting on the loss of someone he called an "icon."
"Of course I did not know her," he said.
