Mourners gather at the closed British Consulate in New York to honor Queen Elizabeth

Expats and Yanks flocked to the Upper East Side on Saturday to express their grief over the death of Queen Elizabeth II – but were shocked to find the British consulate in New York locked up.

“We thought we could come in and sign the guestbook, offer our condolences, because these are very special circumstances,” said Trudy Ferrier from Edinburgh, Scotland.

“No, no,” she lamented. “They don’t open the doors until Monday.”

“These kind of moments really make you homesick,” said Thea Scotti, from Alfriston in East Sussex, placing a bouquet of pink roses, Queen Anne lace and white freesias on the sidewalk in front of the 2nd Avenue door of the office.

“I remember bringing flowers to Buckingham Palace after Princess Diana died,” Scotti said. “Queen Elizabeth handled the aftermath with such grace and calm. She knew exactly what we needed. When was she not inspiring? »

Anna from London, wearing eight English roses in tribute to the late monarch, called her “someone you could look up to”.

“She always behaved with such grace and elegance. She treated everyone equally,” Anna said.

The spontaneous display of candles, Union Jacks and piles of orchids, sunflowers and roses in pink, red and white, grew to around 75 bouquets as the day went on.

“Rest in peace, ma’am,” read a handwritten card. “You will be sorely missed around the world…God save the King.”

“We have a lot of celebrities that we put on a pedestal, but she was born into this life,” said Jennifer Downs, who proudly cited her Scottish ancestry despite being born in Tennessee.

“It’s kind of like a fairy tale.”