‘Thank you, ma’am’: A singular queen, mourned by her people

By ADAM GELLER
AP National Writer

LONDON (AP) — Mourners streamed to the gates of Buckingham Palace in London to mourn a queen they lost this week after she spent 70 years on the throne. But beyond its size, the pilgrimage was remarkable for what it underscored — the many roles that visitors said the monarch occupied in the lives of those she could never know. Flowers, notes and tributes dotted the landscape around the palace on the day that Queen Elizabeth’s son, Charles, first addressed the nation as king. And those who brought the memorials in miniature each told a different story about their relationship with their queen. They called her a role model, a dutiful leader and — in recent years — a national grandmother.