Queen Elizabeth II bade farewell to her Prince Philip at her funeral at Windsor Castle on Saturday, alone on her bench, but the royal family and millions of vigilantes around the world came together.
For seven decades, she has been sovereign of her kingdoms, but Elizabeth, who seemed to wipe away a tear before service, seemed touchingly small under the echoes of the stones in St. George’s Chapel, lowering her head to mourn her beloved consort of years. , as widows of any rank and fortune could do.
Only 30 bad dressed in black were allowed inside the medieval chapel on the grounds of the 950-year-old castle for the last farewell and burial of the Royal Vault of Philip, who died on April 9 at the age of 99. .
The 94-year-old queen was sitting alone due to strict restrictions on social distancing, but close to her four children, Prince Charles, Prince Andrew, Princess Anna and Prince Edward, were sitting in groups with the their own children.
Charles, 72, future king, fought back tears as he led the procession on foot from his father’s coffin from the castle to the church.
He and his wife, Camilla Parker-Bowles, blinked even more tears during the discreet service, which began at 3pm after a minute of silence throughout the UK.
“We have been inspired by her steadfast loyalty to our Queen, her service to the nation and the Commonwealth, her courage, strength and faith,” Windsor Dean David Conner said in his call to prayer. .
Perhaps the greatest mystery of the intimate ceremony: there would be frost or tenderness between Charles’ two feudal sons, Prince William, an eventual king, and his brother renouncing royalty, Prince Harry, developed with dignity. quiet.
William, 38, and Harry, 36, had left the church separated by their cousin, Peter Phillips, and were seated separately for the entire 50-minute service.
But the brothers, who haven’t seen each other in public since Megxit’s breakup last year, chatted kindly after leaving the chapel next to William’s wife, Kate Middleton.
The future queen consort, 39, silently paid homage to her jewelry, with diamond earrings lent to the queen that Philip had given to Elizabeth for her 1947 wedding.
Harry’s wife, Meghan Markle, who is seven months pregnant with her second child, a baby girl, stayed home in Los Angeles.
Markle saw the funeral as everyone else – on television – although he sent a wreath and a handwritten card to the chapel.
“They know it’s not about them on Saturday, but about honoring their grandfather’s memory and supporting their grandmother,” a royal source previously told The Daily Telegraph.
Philip, the longest-serving consort in British history, was a tireless supporter of the monarchy, a popular attendee to tens of thousands of public engagements.
On any other day, the church would have been filled and the procession of his coffin was filled with onlookers.
On Saturday, a modest group of several hundred skirted the streets near the castle, some wearing facial masks with their likeness.
Despite the small list of attendees, the royal observers analyzed every step, look and brilliance of jewels on their televisions, from the moment Philip’s coffin was brought from the palace by eight thieves.
Throughout his marriage, Philip had followed the queen according to royal protocol. But the queen followed the funeral procession to her Bentley on Saturday, and it was inside the car that she appeared looking into her eyes with her hand in black gloves.
She stayed behind her husband’s hearse and walkers, rather than in front of them, where there would normally be a monarch, as if letting him drive her, for a change and for his last procession together.
Philip, who had been recognized for his bravery in World War II, was a lieutenant commander of the Royal Navy and his coffin was adorned with his hat and sword.
The hearse had been personally chosen by Philip, a military-green, electric Land Rover he had designed himself.
“Just sticking me in the back of a Land Rover,” he had reported, he told Elizabeth, who fulfilled his wish.