The Procession following the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, aboard the State Hearse, arrives at The Long Walk in Windsor on September 19, 2022, to make its final journey to Windsor Castle after the State Funeral Service of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II. (Photo credit: CARLOS JASSO / POOL / AFP)
HONG KONG/SYDNEY —In Hong Kong, hundreds followed the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II on their phones as they queued for hours to pay their tributes. In Sydney, Australia, customers packed into pubs to watch the ceremony on TV screens.
In Paris, France, bar owner Thibaud Dupont showed off a new tattoo of the monarch on his forearm.
"She was not our queen, but she reigned over Britain for 70 years. The only other one that reigned longer was Louis XIV, so that’s a common history,” he told Reuters.
Across the globe, crowds gathered outside British embassies and consulates and at cafes, bars and other public places to bear witness to the pageantry unfurling thousands of miles away.
"Her presence is literally everywhere," said IT professional Victor Lai outside the British Consulate General in Hong Kong, where people queued for the past 10 days to sign a memorial book.
"You’ve got the hospitals, the schools, and even the road names which are still under her name," Lai added.
Nearby, visitors piled up flowers, hand-written notes, photographs, candles and other mementos in the centre of a city still marked by its 156-years of British colonial rule.
The queen served as Hong Kong's head of state for 45 years, presiding over a period of rapid development which some consider to be a golden age. Since the territory was returned to Chinese rule in 1997, Britain's government continued to play a role, sometimes angering Beijing by criticizing its rule.
We're losing legacy
In the United States, the funeral received wall-to-wall coverage on cable channels and was a highlight on morning television talk shows.
Across the border in Ottawa, Canadians — most of them in raincoats and carrying umbrellas to keep dry in the rain — lined the route of a military parade in honor of the queen who was also their head of state.
"She was a stabilizing figure in the Commonwealth, and she handled it with legendary grace," said Eric Sladic, 53, an engineer in Ottawa, referring to the group of 56 countries that evolved out of the British Empire after World War II. He said he took the day off work for the event.
At the Lord Dudley Hotel in Sydney's eastern suburbs, Nina Whitfeld looked on with other customers.
"This is a moment in history. She's a steadfast for the monarchy and she's the glue that kept them together and she'll be missed. She meant a lot to me," Whitfeld said.
In a pub in Auckland, New Zealand, some customers said they felt the queen's death marked the end of an era.
"I think we're losing a legacy more than anything," Christopher Wilken said. "We are losing someone that has dedicated pretty much their entire life to the Commonwealth as a whole."
In the Costa del Sol town of Mijas, in southern Spain, Britons watched the funeral procession from a cafe and a nearby bar.
"We have a big expat community in this area of Andalusia, and we are very proud today that a lot of people turned out to come and show their respects to our queen," said 59-year-old bar worker Mark Driver.
"It's a sad day today, but we are also here to celebrate our queen's 70-year reign."
Reporting by Aleksander Solum in Hong Kong, Thomas Denis and Ardee Napolitano in Paris, Hamad Mohammed and Mohammed Benmansour in Manama, Mariano Valladolid in Mijas, Costa del Sol and Jill Gralow, Stefica Nicol Bikes and Sophia Wang in Sydney; Steven Scherer in Ottawa; Writing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise; Editing by Andrew Heavens