Mourning prompts memories of King George VI's death

"All you had was solemn music and announcements," Stan Jones, 88, recalls

As Queen Elizabeth II lies in state, people across the West have been remembering what happened in the days and weeks following King George VI's death in 1952.

Stan Jones, 88, remembered working in Trowbridge's County Hall aged 18 when he heard the news in 1952.

"One of the people in the office came running through and shouted 'The King is dead, the King is dead'," he said.

Sheila Watts, at 102, said she remembered it "like it was yesterday".

Sheila Watts says television "has done so much" to bring the Royal Family closer to the public

Mrs Watts, who now lives in Gloucester, was working in a fifth-floor suite of offices in the City of London close to the caretaker's flat for the Tower of London.

"She came across to us and she said 'The King has died'.

"As she told me I looked out of the office window and saw the Union Jack coming down to half mast over the Tower of London."

While there was a long mourning period, Mrs Watts did not recall there being "quite an outpouring of grief as there seems to be for The Queen".

"It was quite different."

She said the growth of television meant "we got to know a lot more about The Queen" than previous monarchs.

Stan Jones said the news of King George's death came as "a real shock"

Mr Jones said he remembered it being "a complete surprise, everything stopped".

"I went home to dinner and they were already selling the Evening Chronicle in the town... with the big banner across (saying) 'The King is Dead'".

He said from the time the King's announcement was made "the radio just stopped completely. All you had was solemn music and announcements".

Mr Jones, who spoke to BBC Wiltshire from King Charles III's proclamation in Trowbridge, said he was also at the proclamation in the same town when King George died.

"It was announced from the steps of the town hall. It was packed with people," he added.

George Moss said the death of King George VI was "very upsetting for me and the family"

George Moss, 82, from Bristol, was 13 when the King died and remembers it to be "a time of sorrow for many" that lasted for a "long while".

"It was very similar to what is happening now and the mourning was just the same.

"It took a long time for many to come to terms with the sad loss for the King's family and the public."

He said "everything" was closed and the mourning lasted "a long time until the funeral of the king".

Lew Pedler was chosen to be a chorister for a memorial service at St Francis Church, Bristol

Lew Pedler, from the Memories of Bedminster Group in Bristol, was nine when the King was laid to rest.

Mr Pedler, who is now 79 said the grieving process for any death was different in the early 1950s with "drawn curtains routine and mourning lasting for weeks".

He recalled a school project that involved creating a scrapbook of newspaper cuttings about the King's death, and there being a "dreariness" in the nation as a whole at the time of the funeral.

"However, it was just a matter of time before we had the glorious spectacle of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation" he said.

"Now, 70 years later, we find the sadness softened with a more celebratory approach honouring a life well-lived, rather than one lost."