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LAYTON — There are plenty of British expatriates on the Wasatch Front reacting to the sad news about the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
The owner of Little Taste of Britain opened the restaurant in Layton with her husband more than a dozen years ago when she was feeling homesick. Thursday was another one of those days that had Mandy Island thinking about her homeland.
"She had a lot of grace. We all looked up to her," Island said at her restaurant Thursday.
Island and Marian Clements have been friends for nearly 20 years. They got together Thursday at the restaurant to talk about the queen.
Clements was actually at Queen Elizabeth's coronation in 1953 when Clements was 19 years old.
"She was beautiful. Always was, yeah," Clements said.
The women had only heard about the queen's death 15 minutes before. They say they cried a little at first, and then started to reflect on the life of the longtime, beloved monarch.
"She's such a leader," Island said. "She's like everything over there. She's above all the prime ministers. She's very well looked up to. She's very prim and proper."
They will miss Queen Elizabeth's grace, intelligence, and beauty.
"It was expected," Clements said. "But, it's still a shock. She was a good, good person, and all of England loved her."
Island has a wall in the restaurant dedicated to the royal family. She comes from Northampton just like Princess Diana. So, she feels a special kind of bond with her.
The British expatriates see Queen Elizabeth's death as the end of an era, and the beginning of a transition.
"It will be hard," Clements said. "But, they'll adjust. And now it's 'God save the King' because he's King Charles now."
Mandy said that she and her husband will close the restaurant for the day of the funeral once those arrangements are announced.
