Harry’s new anguish after ‘ER’ stripped from his vigil uniform
Harry was allowed to wear military dress for his Westminster vigil, but the Palace removed his grandmother’s initials from his shoulder. Andrew kept them.
The grief was etched across the faces of the Queen’s grandchildren, standing vigil in the stone stillness of Westminster Hall.
Together again in mourning, the Prince of Wales stood guard at the head of the coffin and the Duke of Sussex paid homage at the foot, flanked by their six cousins for the 15-minute watch.
Yet beneath the scene of unity, with Harry brought back into the fold and allowed to wear military dress despite being stripped of his honorary titles last year, there was fresh resentment.
He was “devastated” when he received his uniform from Buckingham Palace yesterday (Saturday) afternoon with his grandmother’s “ER” initials stripped from the shoulder.
During the vigil by the Queen’s children on Friday night the Duke of York, who is no longer a working royal, retained the initials on his vice-admiral’s uniform.
Shortly before leaving for Westminster, Harry was considering wearing a morning suit to avoid the “humiliation”. A friend said: “He is heartbroken. To remove his grandmother’s initials feels very intentional.”
William, 40, and Harry, 38, wore the Blues and Royals No 1 dress uniform “at the King’s request”, the regiment into which both were commissioned. Both wore their Golden, Diamond and Platinum Jubilee medals, Harry with his Afghanistan service medal - a proud reminder of two operational tours. It was the first time he had worn uniform since his final public engagement as captain general of the Royal Marines at the Mountbatten Festival of Music in March 2020 at the Albert Hall.
Heads bowed and eyes sometimes closed in sombre reflection, the brothers surrounded the catafalque with Princess Beatrice, 34, Princess Eugenie, 32, Zara Tindall, 41, Peter Phillips, 44, Lady Louise Windsor, 18, and Viscount Severn, 14.
Watching from a platform were the Earl and Countess of Wessex who were “present to watch the vigil to support their children who
are comparatively young”. Buckingham Palace said the Queen’s grandchildren were “very keen to pay their respects” just as their parents had done on Friday night.
William - who led his cousins into the hall wearing his distinctive blue Order of the Garter sash and star - and Harry will have been quietly relieved to be wearing hats, which partly shielded their faces, but not enough to hide their visible grief. Peter, the Queen’s eldest grandchild, kept his eyes closed for much of the vigil, while the strain of the moment was evident in the faces and stances of Zara, Beatrice and Eugenie. The viscount’s teenage fringe covered his face as he bowed his head, an image reminiscent of a 15-year-old William at his mother’s funeral 25 years ago. The public mourners who had queued for up to 25 hours to see the Queen lying in state stared as they continued to file past.
This evening the Queen Consort will pay a personal tribute to the Queen, a “solitary woman” surrounded by male leaders. In the address, to be broadcast on the BBC, Camilla will say of her late mother-in-law: “She’s been part of our lives for ever. I’m 75 now and I can’t remember anyone except the Queen being there. It must have been so difficult for her being a solitary woman. There weren’t women prime ministers or presidents. She was the only one so I think she carved her own role.
“She’s got those wonderful blue eyes that when she smiles they light up her whole face. I will always remember her smile. That smile is unforgettable.”
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie released a statement saying: “Goodbye dear Grannie, it has been the honour of our lives to have been your granddaughters and we’re so very proud of you.”
All eight grandchildren showed remarkable composure throughout the sombre watch. Then, in a lighter moment as they made their way back up the Grand Committee staircase at the end, Zara’s right shoe came off her foot. Sharing a smile with Lady Louise, she reached down and replaced it. As the cousins emerged, Harry linked arms with Zara.
Earlier yesterday (Saturday) the King met military chiefs of staff at Buckingham Palace before heading to police operational headquarters in Lambeth to meet Sir Mark Rowley, the Metropolitan Police commissioner, Suella Braverman, the home secretary, and Sadiq Khan, the London mayor, and thank members of the emergency services and volunteers for their work in the run-up to the Queen’s funeral. Afterwards Prince William joined him for an impromptu walkabout near Lambeth Bridge to meet and thank hundreds of people in the queue to see the Queen lying in state.
“You’re nearly there,” Charles, 73, said to the cheering crowd, who called out, “Long live the King,” as he shook hundreds of outstretched hands.
William told the queue, which included people from Spain, Hong Kong and the Czech Republic: “Sorry you’ve waited so long - you’re over halfway. I’m sorry it’s so cold. I hope your fingers and toes are OK. I’ve been praying for warmer nights for you all. It means an awful lot that you’re here. She [the Queen] would never believe this, honestly, she really wouldn’t. It’s amazing.”
Asked how his children were doing, William replied: “They’re doing all right, thank you.”
When greeted by a group from Wales who called out, “Come to Wales soon”, William replied, “Bore da”, Welsh for “good morning”. Amanda O’Donoghue, 54, a transport worker from Bishop’s Stortford, told the prince: “Give the corgis a squidge from me!”, to which he replied: “I saw them the other day and they are being very well looked after.”
The Prince and Princess of Wales then joined the King and the Queen Consort at Buckingham Palace for a lunch for 12 governors-general, after which Charles received several prime ministers in the 1844 Room at the palace, including Justin Trudeau of Canada, Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand and Anthony Albanese of Australia. Tonight (Sunday) they will host most foreign heads of state and overseas dignitaries attending tomorrow’s (Monday’s) funeral, in a state event expected to be one of the grandest receptions yet held at the palace.
As the late monarch’s grandchildren stood vigil, the queue for members of the public reached five miles long, with a waiting time of about 15 hours. The Queen will lie in state until 6.30am tomorrow (Monday), when more than two million people are expected to travel to London to pay their respects for her state funeral at Westminster Abbey, expected to be one of the grandest events of the modern age.
The funeral will be followed by a committal service at St George’s Chapel, Windsor, attended by the royal family, dignitaries and the Queen’s personal staff, past and present.
Tomorrow night, at 7.30pm, only the Queen’s closest family will return to St George’s Chapel for a private burial.
@RoyaNikkhah
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