‘It’s devastating:’ WNC residents with ties to Great Britain react to Queen’s death

By Hannah Mackenzie

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    ASHEVILLE, North Carolina (WLOS) — Millions around the world are mourning the death of Queen Elizabeth II – including those in Western North Carolina with ties to Great Britain.

Queen Elizabeth II’s 70-year reign came to a close Thursday. Buckingham Palace announced the 96-year-old died on Sept. 8 at Balmoral Castle, her summer countryside estate in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.

“It’s just devastating, really,” said George Woolf, an international student from Portsmouth, England. “It’s going to change the world forever.”

Woolf said he called his dad as soon as he heard the news and decided to toast the queen’s legacy at the Scotsman Public House in Waynesville.

“A lot of my U.S. friends here were phoning me up here when it happened, and I just couldn’t be bothered to answer the phone. I just needed to reflect on it,” Woolf said.

The Queen’s death: a loss felt not just across generations, but across the globe.

“She was not just the monarch of the country. She was the matriarch of the country. It hit all of us when we heard she was gone,” Kim Miller said. “When somebody has been the very icon of your country for so many years, you can never actually ever really be prepared for when it’s gone.”

Miller, who lived in the U.K. for more than a decade, was fortunate to have attended not one, but two of the Queen’s Royal Garden parties.

“I did see her,” Miller said with a smile. “I’ve seen her. I’ve never gotten to shake her hand. But I think what I liked most of all with my experience with the palace is nobody had an unkind word to say about her as a person and no one had an unkind word to say about her as a leader.”

Queen Elizabeth II led with grace and dignity. Her subjects harbored a deep admiration for their leader. News of her death hit everyone with British blood especially hard – including News 13’s Hannah Mackenzie, a Scotland native.

In 2005, Mackenzie’s late grandmother, Elizabeth Adams, was honored to receive a personalized 100th birthday card signed by the Queen. It’s a customary gift for centenarians in the U.K.

Many Brits are now wondering what’s in store for the commonwealth as King Charles III takes over amid turbulent times.

“There’s rampant inflation, the economy is having a really tough time, there is the effects of the war in Ukraine, and to lose the force that held the country together,” Robert Green said. “This constant presence has now changed.”

Green owns Golf USA in Asheville. The Sussex, England native has lived in Asheville for 30-plus years, but still has a vested interest in what’s happening across the pond.

“This is something that’s going to be felt around the world,” Green said.

According to a statement from Buckingham Palace, the King and Queen consort will remain at Balmoral Castle on Thursday and will return to London on Friday.

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