Queen superfan, who dedicated home to Royal Family, coming to terms with her death

LONDON -

A royal superfan and collector from the London suburb of Wembly says she is struggling to cope with the death of Queen Elizabeth II, as the memorabilia decorating her home from floor to ceiling now leaves her with a great sense of loss.

Margaret Tyler, 78, has dedicated her home to the Royal Family, filling every free space with plates, mugs, books, photographs, and even life-sized cut-outs of its members.

Now, looking around at all the memorabilia, Tyler said it leaves her feeling "very sad" for the country.

"Really still in my heart of hearts, I don't believe it. I think it can't have happened like that, but it did, didn't it?" Tyler said in a telephone interview with CTVNews.ca.

"It was so quick. It seemed like one minute she was here, and the next minute she wasn't. So now I find it really quite hard to come to terms with it."

• Complete coverage of the Royal Family

Despite the emotions she feels when looking around her home, Tyler said her memorabilia won't be going anywhere.

"They're more precious in a way to me because there won't be any new ones coming out, presumably, because she's died. So now they're more precious than ever, and I'll definitely will be looking after them," she said.

Tyler, who started collecting the memorabilia when she was "quite young," says she won't feel as sad as more time passes following the funeral. She added that she may travel with some friends to the Queen's lying in state to pay her respects.

Tyler said she plans on purchasing King Charles III memorabilia once available, but wants to take time to mourn the death of Queen Elizabeth II first.

Tyler has met the Queen on four occasions, even giving her a piece of cake in one instance. She says the meetings mean "so much more" to her now.

Out of the roughly 12,000 royal pieces in her home, Tyler says her favourites include a golden charger plate from The Queen's Shop at Buckingham Palace, as well as all of her photographs of the Royal Family members.

"It just adds up, but it didn't really take long to add up," she said of her collection.

A portion of Tyler's home, showing Queen Elizabeth II memorabilia, is pictured on May 16, 2018. (Mary Nersessian/CTV News)

Tyler's affinity for the Queen and the enacting of her home as a shrine to the monarchy has made her a local fixture, with people often sending her letters.

Tyler says people also leave boxes of unwanted Royals memorabilia outside her home after a parent or family member has died, or when they're just looking to clear out their own home.

"If it's a parent who's died, they've got memories of it and they don't really want to keep it themselves but they want somebody to look after it," she explained.

"They put in a box and put it outside my house, which is very nice, because I look after it and I always will look after it."