British American Club of Jacksonville meets to share memories of Queen Elizabeth II

People in Northeast Florida continue to find ways to honor the queen

The British American Club of Jacksonville met Sunday at Culhane’s Irish Pub to mourn the queen and cheer on the new king.

While there, they shared some of their favorite memories of Queen Elizabeth II.

The friend group has been getting together for over 50 years to talk about the royal family and their childhood.

It’s a transition for many people — wanting to pay respect to the queen they grew up with while keeping high hopes for King Charles III.

“I think people really look to the royal family for tradition, and I think the British people absolutely love the royal family,” said Kathy Soares, with the club. “I think it will be carried on with Charles.”

Carole Lytell, who’s from England, shared how she will miss the queen.

“She was a great queen. As far as I can see she never did anything wrong. She was really, really brave and we are so sorry to see her go. And I hope King Charles will be as good as she is, but I don’t think so. I hope he makes it well,” Lytell said.

In a somber, regal procession, the queen’s flag-draped coffin was driven slowly through the Scottish countryside Sunday from her beloved Balmoral Castle to the Scottish capital of Edinburgh. Mourners packed city streets and highway bridges or lined rural roads with cars and tractors to take part in a historic goodbye to the monarch who had reigned for 70 years.

Meanwhile, other people in Northeast Florida continue to find ways to honor the queen.

At the Kings Head British Pub in the St. Augustine area, Alex Lennox, who’s from Scotland, on Sunday put flowers at the bottom of a pole bearing the British flag at half-staff.

“That would be an appropriate place to take a salute,” Lennox said. “Just to sum up the respect to someone who was just, you know, indeed just a beautiful person.”

Lennox is ex-military, and Elizabeth was head of the British Army. While he saluted the flag at half-staff, he couldn’t help but think about how he wouldn’t be able to thank her enough for what she’s done.

At the Kings Head British Pub in the St. Augustine area, Alex Lennox, who’s from Scotland, on Sunday put flowers at the bottom of a flag pole bearing the British flag at half-staff and saluted the flag. (Copyright 2022 by WJXT News4Jax - All rights reserved.)

“She’s everything to me, you know, and I told my veteran associates, she was highly respected, not only by the military community, but by everybody,” Lennox said. “I don’t think anybody really had a bad thing to say about the queen. She was always above it.”

He said she was like a grandmother to everyone.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.


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