Antonio Marchitto, a Savile Row tailor who has made suits for King Charles III, is among the thousands who travelled to Buckingham Palace to lay flowers for the Queen today.
“The Queen was like our mum,” said Mr Marchitto, who moved to London from Italy with his wife, Vittoria, 49 years ago.
“When we came she was 17 and I was 20 – very young people, just got married – and the Queen for us was like our mum because we left our parents in Italy,” he said.
Mr Marchitto met Charles while he was Prince of Wales, helping to make suits for him over the years. He describes the new King as a “very, very nice man” who is “meticulous” about his suits.
The mood was reflective on Monday morning as wellwishers slowly began trickling down The Mall to lay flowers at the gate of Buckingham Palace.
Among the early crowd were Lindsey and James McKelvie, who were visiting London from the Netherlands with their children, Claire and James.
The family, who are originally from the Unites States, said their trip had been made “more special” by the fact they were able to come and pay their respects to the Queen.
“It’s heartbreaking. We’ve enjoyed her life, we’ve enjoyed her legacy, and her entire family,” Ms McKelvie said. “We’ve watched everyone grow up, her grandchildren, they’ve turned into wonderful people,.
By lunchtime, crowds had filled the area in front of Buckingham Palace and volunteers were struggling to herd people through the one-way system that has been set up between the Palace and Green Park.
In the park, where the public are being asked to leave their tributes, the ground now resembles a wild meadow, with dozens of visitors taking it upon themselves to remove the plastic around the bouquets and arrange the tributes together.
While the volunteers worked to remove the plastic from the flowers, many discussed their memories of the Queen.
Accents and languages from all over the world could be heard in the crowd. A Scottish man was heard explaining the Union of the Crowns to a curious American tourist.
Tara Jones, from Swindon, and Ms Yamaha, who is originally from Japan but has lived in London for ten years, began chatting about the Queen as they worked alongside each other in a corner of the park.
Ms Jones told i the atmosphere at Green Park had been “very touching and loving” with many of the people arriving and asking how they could help out.
“[The Queen] gave us 70 years so we’re giving a little back,” she said.
Ms Yamaha said she had come to Green Park to “share and help”.
She added: “I’m not a British citizen but I’m feeling so sad. She’s always been across our daily life.”
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