'She was the British people': Queen Elizabeth II remembered by British citizens living in Colorado

It seems hard to believe. The woman who had embodied a Kingdom is gone.

"It's like a mother or grandmother passing. She was that significant to the British people. She was the British people."

Dr. Matthew Roberts, a British citizen living in Denver, sums up the feeling of so many like him who grew up during the reign of Queen Elizabeth II.

A young girl called Lilibet who became the monarch after her father unexpectedly died.

Judy Ollman remains British living in Greenwood Village and grew up in the north of England remembering at age three how her mother went to London to see Elizabeth installed in the job.

"My mom went to the coronation and we had all sorts of coronation memorabilia around the house."

Ollman has always respected how the young Elizabeth had taken an ordinary job in the military.

"She had a strong sense of duty and she took that role very seriously and she really cared about the people and she could feel that," said Ollman.

Throughout the years the monarchy has been called into question in the United Kingdom as an unnecessary expense and relic of the past. But Roberts says with the Queen now passing and Charles taking over as King, now is not the time for such discussions.

"The Royal Family has been taken back into the hearts of the people if they were drifting away in the past."

For 70 years she has been Queen. At age 96 she has passed, but still for those who lived under her reign it may seem like a shock.

The Queen's son has been in line for the job for those 70 years. Now he becomes King Charles III.