Minnesota anglophiles, local expats grieve the United Kingdom's 'matriarch'

For 30 years, Brit's Pub has felt like a little corner of the U.K. transplanted to downtown Minneapolis. On Thursday afternoon, BBC coverage of Queen Elizabeth II's death aired alongside the usual soccer matches, as a bagpiper's mournful rendition of "Amazing Grace" served as a local commemoration for Britain's longest-serving monarch.

Shane Higgins, the pub's general manager and a native of Burnley, England, called Elizabeth his home country's best royal representative.

"She's much loved, and I think everyone knows she's done her time and service for the country — and magnificently," he said.

Elizabeth's seven-decade reign was a source of reliability and comfort for Britons of multiple generations, Higgins said.

"Anybody under 70 years old, we only had one queen, so she has been a constant for the county and a matriarch of the country," he said.

"God Save the King," Higgins couldn't help but add.

American Anglophiles joined the world in mourning and reflecting on Elizabeth's passing Thursday. Among them was Minneapolis photographer Liz Banfield, who has been documenting British design and traditions via her blog "British Crush" for more than a decade. She called Elizabeth an "icon" of British culture.

Banfield said in her experience, the British people's fondness for the royals has a different tenor than that of their American fans.

"In the United Kingdom, the monarchy is almost like family," she said. "They feel very connected to whatever's happening with the royal family, like it's part of their crazy extended family. And I think Americans' fascination with the monarchy is almost like they're the original celebrities. They want to know what they're wearing, where they're going, who they're marrying."

While many Americans are drawn to the pomp of the royals — Banfield was up early to watch both William and Harry's weddings — they're also interested in the monarchy's living history.

"When something like this happens, it feels like it's another chapter in the book — literally — of a very long-standing tradition," she said.

Minnesotans with roots in the U.K. are feeling Elizabeth's loss in a more personal way, said Simon Husbands, a Nottingham, England, native who is the DJ and host of KFAI radio's "True Brit!"

A few hours after Elizabeth's death, Husbands was processing the sadness and shock.

"It's definitely going to be an adjustment for many people," he said. "She's been with everybody, in everybody's head, for so long."

Husbands marveled at Elizabeth's remarkable ability to remain in the public's good graces for so long.

"She managed to stay with a majority of people in the U.K. as the No. 1 person they'd most like to meet and the person that they look up to," he said.

He noted how Elizabeth was utterly devoted to her role, having met with the U.K.'s new prime minister, Liz Truss, just two days before her death.

Husbands also reflected on how Elizabeth's charisma seemed to embrace all those she met — including his brother, who once spent several hours with her.

"All the people that I know that have met the queen have all said how lovely and down to earth and easy to talk to and interested in people she was," he said.

Husbands said Elizabeth will be "sorely missed." After her lengthy reign, he said, there's a lot of uncertainty about what comes next.

"It's kind of a nerve-wracking time because Charles is not everybody's favorite royal," he said. "I don't know whether the perception of the royal family is going to take a nosedive because of Charles and Camilla, but I guess we give them the benefit of the doubt and see what happens."

Back at Brit's Pub, as after-work crowds started to gather, Julie Sherman stood watching as her son, Jimmy Sherman, played the bagpipes. Elizabeth was an idol to her and many others, she said.

"She was so strong and committed to the monarchy, and even at a price," Sherman said. "There was a lot of sadness in her life, but you could never doubt her loyalty and steadfastness."

Nearby, Alex Kroeger shared how her grandfather's position as minister of education in the Bahamas, a former British colony, led to an encounter with Elizabeth that became family legend.

"My grandmother met the queen back in the 1960s," Kroeger explained. "And she saved the gloves that she wore when she shook her hand."

As a child, Kroeger recalled, she was never allowed to touch them.