PENNSYLVANIA, USA — For many people in our area and all over the world, Queen Elizabeth II has been the only monarch many of us have known in our lifetimes.
Amy Franklin is a foreign exchange student from England studying in Lackawanna County at Keystone College. To her and her family, the queen is all they have ever known.
"The loss of the queen is, to describe it, incomprehensible to anyone. She is a huge part of our country, our nation, our heritage, and the loss is just so tremendous right now is just so shocking," said Franklin.
Franklin says her close friends and family back home have been mourning the loss of Queen Elizabeth since the news broke of her passing at her estate in Scotland.
Franklin says feelings of uncertainty are on everyone's minds.
"She's just got some much dignity and grace, and for everything that she's done for our country when the world has been changing around her, we just don't know what to do without her," said Franklin.
Wilkes University Associate Professor of History Johnathan Kuiken says the passing of Queen Elizabeth will lead to many changes throughout the monarchy.
And the unity the queen held over her decades-long reign may never be seen again.
"Her maintaining a kind of dignified grace and a respectful neutrality when it comes to political issues and things like that has helped keep the country, you know, perhaps more unified than it could've been," said Kuiken.
With the passing of the queen, Kuiken says King Charles III has been appointed to continue the line of succession, but it is uncertain how the public will react to the official coronation.
"It will be really interesting to see what they do for the coronation because it is a moment of economic crisis it is a moment of great uncertainty," said Kuiken. "Is the public going to be thrilled if they spend billions of dollars on a huge blowout of a coronation?"
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