Brummies packed into Birmingham’s Centenary Square to watch the Queen’s funeral which was broadcast on a huge TV screen. Around 150 people set up patio chairs and wrapped up against the cold to watch the sombre ceremony. The square, which features a fitting war memorial, was originally completed in the 1920’s but was recently redesigned in 2019. Mourner Elliot Matthews, 41, from Birmingham, said: “Charles has got big shoes to fill. It’s going to take time. “Personally what I feel most of his interests are very much in line with my thoughts. “He’s going to struggle to keep up with the reputation of his mother but I think that’s inevitable. “He’s going to have to demonstrate how the monarchy will change under him. “I think he should still remain a little more active, a little more opinionated, people know what his opinions are. “I felt a degree of shock when the Queen passed. Very much like an elderly relative, you could see she was looking visibly older and visibly frailer. “No matter how mentally prepared you are, it’s always a shock. I was watching the TV more or less when the initial statement came out.” Mum-of-three Julie Taylor, 45, from Edgbaston, said: “I wasn’t able to travel to London to pay my respects so I wanted to do something more than just watch the funeral on TV. “I felt it necessary to feel camaraderie with other people which is why I am here today instead of a warm living room at home. “Covid kept us all locked in our homes and the Queen was a uniting figure for us all. “I think the best tribute this country can pay her is to show unity together now she is no longer here to see over us.” Graeme Pape, 30, from Solihull, West Mids., said: “Some of my friends have been a bit sneering about the Queen’s death, saying they won’t mourn her because they didn’t know her but I think that’s missing the point. “True I never met the Queen, but she embodies the country’s ideals which, as far as I am concerned, are kindness, compassion and strength. “For me her death represents the death of everyone I have ever lost who was close to me and that is why I have come here today to pay my respects.”
