Standing outside the shopping center in central London where the procession carrying the Queen’s coffin will pass on its way to Windsor, Jan Gard, 68, said the funeral service had brought a flood of emotions .
First, there was sadness at the Queen’s death, then the poignant symbolism of the funeral crowd singing the British national anthem ‘God Save the King’ as Charles III became the new monarch.
I had to keep telling myself I was the king, not the queen,” said Gard, who is from Kent in southeast England.
The service “was beautiful because she (the queen) was a Christian and served God and her people,” Gard said.
He added that when he saw the Queen’s coffin on the live broadcast, “it really hit me. I was born in the year of her coronation, so it means something to me.”
