Queen Elizabeth II’s death Thursday at the age of 96, shortly after Buckingham Palace announced she was under medical supervision, came as no seismic shock given her age and recent health issues. But with the country facing unprecedented economic hardship due to spiraling energy costs and inflation, her absence may be felt even more keenly as Britain confronts a crisis without her for the first time in seven decades.
    As French President Emmanuel Macron put it in one of the dozens of tributes from world leaders, she represented “through the fluctuations and turmoil of politics, a permanence with the scent of eternity.”
    Outside the palace in central London, Britons and people from around the world shared in the sense of disbelief that the second Elizabethan age has come to an end.
    Mounted members of the King's Guard, the soldiers who patrol royal households, trotted past. Until Thursday, they were known as the Queen's Guard.
    A large but quiet crowd gathered to pay respects and to witness history. Multiple languages could be heard as tourists and royalist Britons mingled with curious passersby. Gardeners were busily trimming royal lawns in anticipation of the days of pageantry ahead.
    Many in the growing crowd were wielding smartphones and selfie-sticks and were, naturally for the social media generation, documenting all they could see.
    “It’s a historic day because the queen is the only monarch most of us have known,” said Darius Koenig, 24, a trainee lawyer and singer from London, who was carrying flowers and said he couldn’t find a newspaper to buy anywhere. “I’m not really sure what to feel, it’s hard to put words on it. It’s certainly a day of collective grief.”
    Amy Lodge, 30, a history teacher from Twickenham in southwest London, was pushing a stroller carrying her sleeping 4-month-old, Esme-Lilly. “Obviously I was really sad at the news. But my nan is the same age as the queen and my auntie in Canada is a huge royalist, so I almost had to come and pay my respects on their behalf,” she said.
    “I don’t know if I would say I’m a royalist but I am definitely a big supporter of the queen. I’m a lot sadder and a lot more emotional than I thought I would be.”
    The changes in the monarch and the prime minister come at a seismic point in British political and economic life, with many families fearing how they will afford the increasing energy bills as a cost-of-living crisis intersects with Russia’s war in Ukraine and the aftermath of the country’s exit from the European Union. 
    Charles will soon meet Liz Truss, only days after the queen invited her to be prime minister. The pair will then meet every week for the monarch’s traditional weekly audience with the prime minister — and one issue is likely to take precedence.
    Hours before the queen’s death was announced, Truss told the House of Commons she would freeze energy bills at £2,500 ($2,900) a year until 2024, a colossal intervention that would have dominated national discussion were it not for the news that interrupted debate on the subject in Parliament.
    Record inflation of more than 10% has driven a summer of widespread strikes, but industrial action at the Royal Mail and by railway workers planned for Friday was canceled in light of the queen’s death. Sporting and cultural events were also canceled and some stores shut as the country embarked on a 10-day period of mourning.
    It’s possible the first post-Elizabeth national crisis will be one of the worst in recent memory — nevertheless, the days ahead will be spent remembering her contribution to public life.
    Steve Kazan, 61, who works in technology and lives near San Francisco and is on vacation in Britain with his son, Henry, 23, came to pay his respects outside the palace. They were on a train from Edinburgh to London yesterday when the news broke. “Someone shouted out the news and ripples of chatter went through the car,” he said.
    “We were definitely hit by the historic impact of it immediately. I was sat across the table from a young student and I told her: ‘You will remember where you were on this day forever.’”