Movies

Prince George and Princess Charlotte attend Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral

September 19, 2022

LONDON — Queen Elizabeth II’s great-grandchildren, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, attended her state funeral at Westminster Abbey on Monday.

The two eldest children of Prince William and his wife, Catherine, walked behind their parents and ahead of their aunt and uncle, Prince Harry and Meghan, during the funeral procession that followed the coffin into the church filled with 2,000 people. Their grandfather, King Charles III, led the royal family alongside his wife, Camilla, Queen Consort.

Prince George, 9, wore a black tie and sat with his sister, 7, who wore a black hat and a small horseshoe brooch on her dress (perhaps a nod to her horse-loving great-grandmother) as they rode along in the military procession from church to Wellington Arch in central London alongside their mother.

George is second in line to his father, and his sister is now third.

Their younger brother, Prince Louis, 4, was not present. This summer it captured hearts and headlines after a series of moving displays on the balcony of Buckingham Palace amid the glitz of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations. He spawned memes and comments online as he made cheeky faces, clasped his hands over his ears, waved and yawned relentlessly.

Some on social media argued that the children may have been too young to attend and cope with the emotional nature of the day, while others said their presence evoked memories of young William and Harry attending the funeral of their mother, Princess Diana, in the same church in 1997.

The state funeral began at 11 a.m. local time in the same 13th-century church where Elizabeth was married and had her coronation. Readings were given by religious figures alongside British Prime Minister Liz Truss and Commonwealth Secretary General Patricia Scotland.

Westminster Abbey’s tenor bell also rang once a minute for 96 minutes – each toll representing a year in Elizabeth’s life. Representatives of Jewish, Baha’i, Jain, Buddhist, Muslim and other communities also took part in the event. The Queen’s coffin was transported by hearse to Windsor Castle, where a small ceremony and her burial will take place.

Queen Elizabeth II’s royal family tree, shown: George V at Lilibet

George celebrated his ninth birthday in July, with the release of a photo showing the young royal dressed in baby blue and beaming with a toothy smile. The image was taken by his mother on a beach in Norfolk, east England, in what has become an annual tradition for the birthdays of William and Catherine’s children.

Why is the world so fascinated by Queen Elizabeth II?

The future king was born to much fanfare on July 22, 2013, as journalists and pundits waited outside London’s St. Mary’s Hospital in Paddington to catch a glimpse of the royal couple’s firstborn and heir. Baptized a few months later as George Alexander Louis, he is officially known as Prince George of Cambridge, but it is unclear if his title will change now that his parents have become the Prince and Princess of Wales.

Like millions of other children across the country, the royal siblings started their school term earlier this month. No longer based in London, they attended the private Lambbrook School, near Windsor. Footage of them meeting their new manager and holding hands with their parents has been released.

However, like other young royals before them, they will be largely kept out of the public eye as they grow older. Their family moved from Kensington Palace in London to Adelaide Cottage, a property near Windsor Castle this summer, among other homes they keep.