Prince Philips Funeral.

I like that, Molly

Just a thought.

Yes Elegran

Elegran

We seem to have killed off the thread, Anniebach Perhaps it was good note on which to end it.

❤️❤️

We seem to have killed off the thread, Anniebach Perhaps it was good note on which to end it.

Elegran very moving words, you have reminded of many years ago when my husband died, his coffin was taken to the Church the night before his funeral, there was a service, i didn’t
attend, my priest came for me after the service and took me to
The Church, I sat alone near the coffin, I was able to pray, to talk to my husband, I didn’t feel alone, next day at the funeral I
felt so alone. The Queen had that quiet time in Church too.

Elegran beautiful words and way to describe it.

I wonder too if part of her grieving was about the wife she may have wanted to be with Philip, before her dear Dad passed so young.

Rest well HRH. You are in my prayers your M.

In her private monents she has been alone ever since he died, . Those of us who have lost a partner know what it is to be alone, and it is not just for a few minutes while waiting for the rest of the funeral party to arrive. I should imagine she sat and thought her own thoughts, geting ready for the last ceremony they would share together. Did she perhaps think of her wedding day, when Philip waited for her to join him?

I think those minutes were her own. The rest of the mourners joined in with the main ceremony, but the quiet wait in the empty chapel was hers.

Two metres might just as well be two miles if you’re unable to comfort someone by touch or with words.

Especially given the family member sitting closest to her. I just think it was wrong to give an impression that she was sat totally alone. Which isn’t to say that I didn’t feel terribly sorry for her.

The difference between sitting with and sitting two metres away has been made quite clear throughout lockdown.
If they’d taken it from the end of a pew, it could have been made to look as if they were all sitting too close to each other. Imagine the comments n here and in the media if that had happened.

Eight sat with her in that row !

She was sitting alone until the coffin and those who walked behind arrived. Then Andrew sat a couple of seats away.

I read that Andrew was two seats away so was surprised to see all the photos of the Queen sat completely alone. Bit manipulative that, imo.

The media has a lot of photos with no-one else at all in the same row as the Queen, just empty seats all the way along. I don't know when that one was taken (maybe a rehearsal?) but it gives the impression that there was no-one else anywhere near her, a bit different from having Andrew two seats away!That wouldn't be such a dramatic picture, of course.

Yes Elegran you were right though , he was two seats away, the seating makes sense now

Anie I think what I read may have said that there were two seats between the Queen and the Duke of York. Empty seats. That is how it looks in Ixion's plan.

It was often hard to spot the Queen, in her black coat, hat and mask. Sometimes it was only the sight of her white service sheet that you realised whereabouts she was.

along from the queen was Andrew then anne and husband then Harry. all suitably spaced of course....so, the queen was not so alone. Opposite the queen was Charles and camilla then Edward Sophie and children then William and Catherine . All looks very different on the plan in the press and that Ixion has shown above.

Thank you, I thought the Queen sat at the end of the row with a walkway between her and Charles, when Elegran said some reports said Andrew was two seats away from her I thought my rather bad eyesight had missed seeing him in the same stall, but he wasn’t. Thanks again

Hope this helps.

And

Anniebach

Did Andrew sit in the choir stalls ?

Here’s the plan

Did Andrew sit in the choir stalls ?

The Queen has survived a lot in her long life. She may be tiny, but she could say like Queen Elizabeth I said to the troops at Tilbury when they mustered against the Armada, "I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too"

It was her choice to sit alone. She is good at using symbolism (some of her outfits had symbolic touches to suit the occasion) and maybe that was partly to demonstrate how alone a widow is, not just at the funeral, but even more after it.

One of her three sons was in fact only a few seats away from her. The most shown photograph shows empty seats along the rest of the row, but in other photos, Prince Andrew was quite near, and some news reports said he was two seats away.