It’s been less than a week since the passing of Queen Elizabeth II at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, ending her 70-year reign in Britain’s monarchy.
Currently, the late queen’s coffin procession has commenced in Scotland, allowing the public to pay their respects for 24 hours before she is transported to London.
According to Douglas Carswell, a former member of Parliament and current president and CEO of the Mississippi Center for Public Policy, numerous Americans have reached out to provide comfort following the queen’s death.
“I’ve been really struck by the number of ordinary folks who have said kind things to me. I think it reflects on the very closeness of our countries,” Carswell explained in an interview on The Gallo Show. “Sure we have two very different systems, but actually at heart, I think we’re very similar.”
Carswell added that he was impressed with the queen’s ability to refrain from intervening in Great Britain’s political process during such a long reign. The former resident of Great Britain found it refreshing that the queen did not espouse her political views publicly and believes that it made her a better figurehead for the nation.
“Queen Elizabeth did the job really well. She never intervened in politics. She never expressed her own political views. She was above all of that. She was almost like the umpire, the referee in the match,” Carswell said. “I think she did a great job and she should be respected for that.”
The queen’s passing impacted Carswell on a deeper level than many because he had the opportunity to meet her in person on two different occasions. Carswell recounted a comical tale of having to convince a guard at Buckingham Palace that he was actually invited to have tea with Elizabeth II.
“I was once invited to have tea with her at Buckingham Palace in celebration of her 90th birthday. It wasn’t actually on her birthday, but it was leading up to it. Amongst the other guests were the prime minister and the Archbishop of Canterbury, and one or two other people. I was the only one of those distinguished people to arrive,” Carswell said. “I walked up to the front gates of Buckingham Palace on foot and the police officer at the front gate didn’t believe me when I knocked on the big iron gate and said that I was due to come in and have tea with the queen. It took a bit of persuading to be let in.”
The full interview with Douglas Carswell can be watched below.
