Michiana locals comment on the passing of Queen Elizabeth II

 

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- A powerhouse figure was lost, and the world must come to terms with losing one of the greatest monarchs to have ever lived, Queen Elizabeth II.

The Michiana Brits are a British car enthusiast club. Secretary Larry Palguta said the queen was a symbol of stability and continuity for England.

“She’s been the queen almost my entire life,” Palguta said. “She became the queen a few years after I was born. I believe I’m the same age as her son Charles, now the king. So, she’s been a great representative over the years for the United Kingdom around the world.”

He said the next monarch has big shoes to fill.

“Her son will be compared, obviously, with what his mother did and her accomplishments, and she’s going to cast a very big shadow,” he said.

Queen Elizabeth’s 70-year reign is the longest in England’s history, and the second longest in recorded history, according to Tim Willig with Indiana University South Bend’s Department of History.

“She was like everybody’s grandmother,” he said.

“As the empire was being dissolved, and the former dominions were becoming independent nations, what role did that leave for the monarch?” he asked. “And she redefined it.”

She defined what it means to be the British head of state, he said.

“The naysayers who would like to do away with the monarchy, but every time they revisit that question, no one has a good answer about what they would put in place of the monarchy,” he said, “because it still does have a constitutional role.”

Over the course of her reign, Queen Elizabeth served with 15 different prime ministers.

Willig says she began her military service in World War II, but remained a colonel-in-chief until her last breath.