Foreign nationals in Southampton react to Queen's death

Elizabeth II inspired millions of people across Britain and the rest of the world.

Crowds lined the streets of London and Windsor to gaze upon her funeral procession and pay their respects on Monday.

Following the historical event, non-Brits living in Southampton have given their take on the Royal family and the national response to the Monarch’s death.

Anan Almadi, 22, said: “She has been in the business for seventy years and it feels very surreal.

“The Queen did a lot of good things and although I feel like there is a lot of controversy around her, I think that people, in the end, could understand that she can be separated from the Government and just be judged alone as a woman, and she was a really good woman.

Daily Echo (Image: Daily Echo)

“Coming from Saudi Arabia, we only had kings, every single one of them was a male king, and it was very refreshing to have a female queen.”

The student said she understood that people are “hurt” and that the UK will become different, but expects that having a new king will be “refreshing”.

Football student, Hadi El Masri, 22, who moved to Southampton from Canada less than two years ago, said he was not expecting her death to be such a historical event.

He said: “From what my British friends say and especially elderly people who talk highly of her, I can kind of see how she made an impact and why, but I’m still learning the culture itself.

Daily Echo (Image: Daily Echo)

"Seeing how many people went to her funeral and celebrities that I look up to, like David Beckham, waiting in line for hours made me a bit more interested because as a foreigner it made me think that this is way bigger than I thought it would be.”

Roxana Ahmed, 45, was born in Bangladesh and moved to the UK when she was ten years old.

She said: “I think some people might be angry about it because they are spending a lot of time and money on one person, whereas everybody else is struggling to pay their bills.

"But at the same time, she has already given seventy years of her life to the country. It is not her fault she was born into the Royal family, so I didn’t think anything negative about that.

If they didn’t do anything, all her life that she has given to the people would be for nothing.”

“There is nothing wrong about it, but there is nothing good about it either,” she added.