Queen Elizabeth funeral: Message to the world: monarchy will endure
The royal family has sent a powerful message of solidarity and continuity, as the Queen’s children, grandchildren and two great-grandchildren came together to pay their final respects.
The royal family has sent a powerful message of solidarity and continuity, as the Queen’s children, grandchildren and two great-grandchildren came together to pay their final respects.
King Charles led 18 family members in a final procession accompanying the Queen’s cortege the short distance from Westminster Hall into Westminster Abbey for her state funeral.
William, the Prince of Wales, and wife Catherine, the Princess of Wales, were accompanied by the two eldest of their three children, George, 9, and Charlotte, 7, in the royal procession down the abbey’s central aisle.
The last-minute decision to include two of the Queen’s 12 great-grandchildren – the second and third in line to the throne behind Prince William – sent a powerful message to the world about the continuity and endurance of the British royal family, and the line of succession.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, joined the procession in front of 2000 people.
The Queen’s four children – Charles, Anne, Andrew and Edward – led the family group, along with Camilla, the Queen Consort. While Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, walked alone, Princess Anne was accompanied by her husband, Vice-Admiral Sir Tim Laurence. Her son from her first marriage, Peter Phillips, was also in the official party.
Prince Edward’s wife, Sophie, the Countess of Wessex, also accompanied the cortege.
Harry, like his uncle Andrew, was dressed not in military uniform but in a suit with service medals.
The Queen’s nephew, the Earl of Snowden, David Armstrong-Jones, was among the group.
He is the son of the late Princess Margaret, the Queen’s sister, and her former husband, Antony Armstrong-Jones.
Three cousins of the Queen also joined the procession – Prince Richard the Duke of Gloucester, Prince Michael of Kent and Prince Edward the Duke of Kent.
The King walked in a line behind the coffin with Anne, Andrew and Edward from Westminster Hall, with both Charles and Andrew visibly emotional.
William and Harry followed, the group accompanied by the sounds of massed pipes and muffled drums.
Charles, Edward, Anne and William, all in military uniform, saluted as the Queen’s coffin was taken from the gun carriage outside the abbey, while Harry and Andrew bowed their heads.
The rest of the royal party, including Prince George and Princess Charlotte, the Queen Consort, Catherine, Sophie and Meghan, joined them at the door of the abbey.
George, in a navy suit and black tie, and Charlotte, wearing a black dress and hat, walked between their parents.
Zara Tindall, princesses Eugenie and Beatrice, and Lady Louise, 18, and James, Viscount Severn, 14 – did not walk in the procession but were among guests at Westminster Abbey.
The Princess of Wales wore a four-string pearl and diamond choker, which was loaned to her years ago by the Queen and which had previously been worn by her late mother-in-law, Princess Diana.
The Duchess of Sussex wore the discreet diamond and pearl earrings the Queen gave her when they attended their first event together in 2018.
The sight of George and Charlotte walking solemnly behind their great-grandmother’s coffin brought back memories of William, then 15, and Harry, then 12, walking through the streets of London behind the coffin of their mother, Princess Diana, who died in a car accident in 1997.
Both princes have since spoken about how difficult that moment was, and how their vigils for their grandmother have brought back memories of that walk.
However, William and Catherine have spent time with their children helping them understand the loss of their 96-year-old great-grandmother. Their youngest son, Louis, 4, did not attend the funeral.
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