LONDON — Britons descended on Buckingham Palace in the heart of London on Thursday evening following the announcement of Queen Elizabeth II’s death.

The nation’s longest-reigning monarch, on the throne since 1952, was remembered as a steadying force as she ruled through post-World War II recovery, 1970s economic turmoil and recently the COVID-19 pandemic.

“For somebody to be devoting every day of their life, 70 years, to one thing nonstop takes a lot of guts, it takes a lot of honor, it takes a lot of grace,” Londoner Julian Thurbin said.

Thurbin left flowers at the palace gates and said he was inspired by Queen Elizabeth’s reluctance to get involved in divisive issues. “Very often, less is more,” he said.

Mourners placed flowers and notes on the gates of the palace, and occasionally broke out into fits of clapping and impromptu renditions of the British national anthem and other songs. Dozens climbed onto the Victoria Memorial, the massive, gilded bronze-topped monument in front of the palace, and its surrounding lion sculptures.

A number of the visitors were visibly in shock, including one young Briton who climbed the monument.

“It feels weird. The queen has been there my whole life,” Elliot Pratt said. “It’s almost become a running joke that the queen’s always there, and now she’s not. I’m still processing.”

The plaza in front of the palace and the surrounding parks, known as The Mall, were packed with visitors, nearly every one taking photos and video of the occasion. The palace’s flags were lowered to half staff to mark the death of the queen, who was 96 years old.

Sam Baylow is an American student who is studying abroad in London. He came to Buckingham Palace to witness history, he said.

“No one truly knew exactly what was the right thing to do; some people were singing, others were dead quiet and mourning,” Baylow said. “As a tourist, you always feel like you’re trying to know something that someone else already knows. For the first time in Britain, I felt like we were all on the same level. That we were all unsure.”

Anna Chataway, a London doctor, first heard the news while in the operating theater where the staff gave a moment of silence. She went directly to Buckingham Palace with her husband, neurology professor Jeremy Chataway, after work to lay flowers and pay their respects.

“She’s been a constant force throughout our lives. She’s offered the country care, and we owe her eternal gratitude,” Anna Chataway said. “Her sense of duty, putting her subjects first, is a great example to all and perhaps some of our politicians could take a leaf out of her book.”

“It’s obviously incredibly sad, but it gives us the chance to reflect on the history,” Jeremy Chataway said. “I think the royal family and The Firm have been preparing for this and they have already started modernizing the family and cutting back and moving on. We have every confidence in the future.” (The Firm is an informal title for the British royal family and its associated institutions.)

Crowds began to thin shortly before 8 p.m. as the sun set and rain picked up, but thousands chose to bear the weather in order to pay their respects. Metropolitan Police erected impromptu barricades shortly after, attempting to control the crowd, but visitors continued to push forward toward the palace gates.

The queen died at Balmoral Castle in Scotland on Thursday afternoon, according to the royal family, just days after making her final public appearance welcoming Liz Truss as the country’s newest prime minister. A number of family members were called to Balmoral Castle earlier Thursday, given doctors’ concerns about her health.

Queen Elizabeth’s son Charles, who is 73, now takes the throne and is known as King Charles III. His wife, Camilla, is queen consort.

Syracuse, N.Y. — A 74-year-old Syracuse man needed six staples in his head this morning after his neighbor attacked him with a blunt sword. Had the sword been sharper, the man believes he could have been killed.

Carl Fay said that his neighbor, Keith Buffington, 55, slashed him on the head with a sword after he and another neighbor asked him to keep the noise down in his apartment. The incident occurred in the 900 block of West Belden Avenue at about 2 a.m.

“He was banging on the walls, playing his drums, calling me all kinds of names,” Fay said.

An upstairs neighbor confronted Buffington about the noise slightly before 2 a.m. when he saw the sword, the neighbor said. The upstairs neighbor described the sword as silver and about two feet long.

After the neighbor left, Buffington told Fay, “I’m going to kill you, I’m going to kill kill kill you,” Fay said.

Buffington then smashed the window of Fay’s storm door. Fay came outside to see the disturbance. When he bent down to pick up a piece of glass, Buffington slashed him in the top of the head, Fay said.

“I didn’t see the sword at first and then bang, blood started coming out everywhere, all over my face,” Fay said. “(Buffington) was laughing about it and said ‘Come on out, I’ll do more.’”

Fay then locked himself in his apartment and called the police. Police arrested Buffington after Fay identified him.

Fay was taken to a local hospital and given six staples in the top of his head to close the wound. A doctor told him the sword was dull, but if it was sharpened it likely would have killed him, Fay said. He was released later that morning and returned to his apartment Tuesday.

Fay said he is unsure what he did to anger Buffington, but both he and the upstairs neighbor said noise disturbances from Buffington are common.

Buffington was charged with second-degree assault, third-degree criminal possession of a weapon and fourth-degree criminal mischief and is being held at the county justice center without bail, according to police.