PORTLAND, Ore. — Queen Elizabeth II, Britain’s longest-reigning monarch and a rock of stability across much of a turbulent century, died after 70 years on the throne on Thursday. She was 96 years old.
People mourned her passing in the United Kingdom and beyond. In Oregon, the state chapters of the Daughters of the British Empire, fondly remembered the Queen and all that she represented.
Irene Silver and her daughter Jacque Hillsberry lived in England and Scotland for a time and always looked up to Her Majesty the Queen.
"I was nine years old when she came to the throne and so she's always just been the Queen, you know?" said Silver. "It was supposed to be a great day, but it poured with rain. But people still had their street parties and their celebrations - and it was on TV."
"Just a very powerful woman," said Hillsbery. "Not only was she a leader, but [she was] also a grandmother, a mother and loved her animals and just [was] an all around wonderful woman."
The two have celebrated many milestones for the Royal Family over the years. The most recent was the Queen's Platinum Jubilee earlier this year.
"I actually had a tea party at my house and I had a cardboard cutout of the Queen," recalled Hillsbery. "It was such a significant thing. It was so great to be able to celebrate that."
Though still in shock over her passing, they're looking for ways now to honor the Queen's memory.
"It's going to be strange not saying 'God save the Queen,'" said Silver. "Most people have grown up with the queen, you know, so it's going to be ... it's going to be different."