Pubs this evening were full of locals having a drink in Her Majesty’s honour. One woman from Newport was celebrating her 70th birthday as she heard the sad news.

Kathy Williams, from Newport was out enjoying her birthday, and was emotional when talking about the longest reigning monarch.

She said: “I am not a royalist, but I am 70 today and she has always been there, she had a good, long life, it's very sad.

“It's upsetting me and I feel very sad at this moment, she’s had a privileged life but it’s very sad.”

The streets of Newport city centre were quiet, with barely a soul in sight.

Keith Chandler, from Newport raised a glass in tribute at the Potters Pub on Upper Dock Street.

He said: “It’s devastating. It is one of those things that you think she is there forever, but it doesn’t work like that.

“She got to her 90s, which is fantastic. I am an old man, so I have been with her, I have followed her for a long time.”

A passer-by out on her walk was shocked and saddened by the news.

She said: “I have a lot of respect for her, she has done amazing things for this country, she is a trooper as one or two days ago she was greeting the new prime minister.

“She kept working and we got to give it to her as 70 years is a long time, I remember when she came to Newport many years ago when I was working at WHS Smith.

“She was just a tiny little lady, she was lovely and talking to people, it’s really sad.”

At the Windsor Castle in Upper Dock Street many people were sat in mourning.

Newsquest (Image: Newsquest)

Michael Ball (left), Gwyn Dodd (second from right), Jessica Davies (right) are all saddened by the news 

Stephen Berry said: “It’s so sad, she was a mother, a grandmother, a great-grandmother.

"I am very emotional at this moment as she had a good life.”

Further down the road at the Alexandra Pub on Commercial Street, more people were toasting the queen’s memory.

Jessica Davies was upset by the news, and hailed the Queen as a remarkable woman on her 70 years on the throne.

She said: “I think she’s made a very remarkable impact on the country. These are big shoes to fill, nobody will ever do what she has done, it’s devastating.”

Michael Ball added: “It’s all the country has ever known, everybody alive today has only known her.”