Dennington resident and British expat Tony Laws reflects on passing of Elizabeth II

It was a shock to the system when Mr Laws picked up the phone on Friday morning.

"My brother actually woke me up at 20 past five this morning to tell me," he said.

"It's incredibly sad - both my brothers are still in the UK and it's clear they're feeling it profoundly."

Mr Laws served in the British Royal Navy from the 1970s to early 2000s where he found himself on the same squadron as Prince Andrew.

"I worked with Prince Andrew for years, he was my senior pilot," he said.

"When he was in the navy he was the executive officer of the squadron I was on so I met him a number of times, as well as Prince Charles and Princess Anne.

"You can't be in the British military and not come across the royal family. The Queen used to come down to the squadron a fair bit when Andrew was on it - I remember seeing her when I was flying a helicopter at a special forces display for Princess Anne in the '90s.

"She had a very strong connection with the navy and I saw the Queen at various parades, they happened fairly regularly.

"The last time I saw her was when they were presenting colours and I was part of that parade. I remember seeing the itinerary and her schedule was literally down to the second - they'd even have car door-opening times and it was to the second."

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He said he remembered royal quirks fondly.

"The Queen was our lord high admiral which effectively meant she was the boss of the navy," he said.

"The royals' relationship with the navy goes back 8-900 years and helped to form a lot of our traditions.

"For example, we're the only service which can remain seated during the royal toast and that was because King Henry VIII bumped his head on a British warship when he stood up to receive his toast - now in the mess halls we remain seated.

"Then, up to only a few years ago naval officers had to drag their swords. When I served my sword belt had longer tassels than the army or air force's and we needed to carry our swords when we marched.

"The reason for that was due to the Spithead Mutiny in 1797 when the navy agreed to meet the heads of the mutiny under false pretences, eventually arresting and hanging them.

"Queen Victoria was so horrified because the admirals went back on their word, she decreed all the officers were to drag their swords in shame from then on.

"The royals started a lot of quirky little traditions which were quite quaint."

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