Prince George at The Queen's funeral?

ginny

Personally I don’t think he should attend the state funeral.
Maybe the private committal if he wants to.

I agree with ginny

How unpleasant Gloriany Its up to the parents to decide. My Grandson aged 8 or 9 went to his Great Grandmothers funeral. He was well behaved and respectful.
I know it's not the same as the Queens is a state funeral, but I think we should respect the parents desition.

Germanshepherdsmum

What a very unpleasant post Gloriany.

I'm not sure what they mean by the children 'attending' because I would hope this didn't mean anything too formal or in the public eye. Surely they could view some of the proceedings from the side lines rather than in full view of cameras. We don't want to gawk at grieving children, so keep them out of camera view as much as possible.

Germanshepherdsmum

What a very unpleasant post Gloriany.

I agree Gsm. Very unpleasant, but I think permitting young children to be exposed to the world's media, at an age when they are far too young to understand what is happening, or consider the consequences, is unpleasant. One of the functions of a parent is to protect the child, until they are mature enough to make informed decisions.

Sorry, meant to say I agreed it was an unpleasant post!

Parents will know how their children will deal with attending a funeral. Both DDs aged 6 and 8 knew their grandfather had died. Both girls attended, taking it in their stride to say goodbye to their beloved Grandpa. I would never have contemplated making this decision if I thought our girls felt the slightest bit uncomfortable in attending. They were fine.

I would take a child to a funeral at almost any age. Death is part of life.

The Royal children must be only too, too aware that their great grandmother has died. I am sure they have watched some of the pageantry on the television. It will have been talked of by their school friends.

If the family has a sensible attitude to death, and these things are talked about openly then there should be no problem.

When my DS was the same age as Prince George, a school friend and his brother were killed in a horrific road accident. It was on our library day. DS chose several books from the children's library that dealt with the body and an American one dealing with death. We went home read them together and talked about them and when, as was, inevitable, all the awful details of the accident, the ones that the papers didn't publish, made the rounds at school, he was able to deal with them with equinimity.

Look how primary schools deal with the death of a pupil, especially when in tragic circumstances. Sometimes some children go to the funeral or watch the procession.

Prince George has caring and thoughtful parents. Whatever their decision he will be OK.

Hello! have extrapolated that Louis will also be going, simply because the schools will be shut.

Perhaps they think Wills and Kate will be stuck for childcare…

(If Louis does actually go, I’ll eat my netted pillbox)

I agree with JaneJudge.
I also think he will realise just how much his beloved Grandma meant to the whole world.
And i feel he will learn alot from just that.

DD, aged 9, went to my mother's funeral so I think both George and Charlotte could attend the ceremony at Windsor at their parents' discretion.
Perhaps the ceremony at Westminster might be too much for a child but I'm sure their parents will do what they think is best for the children.

rafichagran

How unpleasant Gloriany Its up to the parents to decide. My Grandson aged 8 or 9 went to his Great Grandmothers funeral. He was well behaved and respectful.
I know it's not the same as the Queens is a state funeral, but I think we should respect the parents desition.

No objections to children attending funerals that are quiet family affairs.. It's the public show I object to.

Do you suppose in 20+years one of those children might possibly be saying "I went because it seemed to be what was expected of me, but it haunts me to this day?"
Just wondering.

These children are growing up with ‘public show’ as part of their development. PG seems to have loving, child centred parents. It’s up to them, not courtiers or news papers to decide. There’s no way PG won’t have seen tv images, heard discussion about his father and uncle Harry etc.
If he goes, I hope it’s to a small, rather more private part of the day. In my family, he’d with with his sister and maternal grandparents. This isn’t any ordinary family, or ordinary funeral

I agree that a very long day on display in front of trillions of people is not like a private family funeral, and could be very difficult for young children. That's why I said that I hope they can find a way for them to be on the side lines rather than on full display to the public for the whole day.

Us Brits are not generally good with talking about death, hence why some are not comfortable with saying so and so has died . Passed, departed, lost are frequently used instead of the D word.

If death is handled sensitively by the parents I see no reason for children not to attend family funerals.

I have a dear friend who had never attended a funeral until that og her Fathers (she was mid 50’s) she was doubly traumatised not only by the death of her Father but also by the funeral itself.

I agree with Monica. It's part of life. I remember at 9 our whole class attended the funeral of a classmate's grandfather.

Then again, I had all my children at the births of their siblings, which is something not everyone would do either. But, it's part of life and holds special memories for them.

Obviously it’s up to his parents. Probably the private part of it at Windsor without the crowds might be a better option.

My parents great grandchildren all attended my father’s funeral. The youngest were two years old and three years old. All fourteen great grandchildren were there. My father adored them all and my mother wanted them there. Most of them attended my mother’s funeral last week, but they were six years older and the youngest there was nine. Having said that, both funerals were only about 40 minutes long as they were held at the crematorium and both focused very much on the grandparents children knew alongside the religious aspects. One of the twins in New Zealand became upset upon hearing the news about Great Nana, and worried that we, his grandparents might die. Love and reassurance was given, but we cannot shield children from death, it’s part of life.
Catherine and William will make this decision in the best interests of George. Only they know their child and if he will cope. Some of the Queen’s other great grandchildren have been seen already in Westminster Hall, but that would have been for a much shorter time. It’s nothing to do with us. Every family makes their own decision with regard to funerals and children.

Slightly off track, we had no problem with our young children attending funerals.

What they did find strange was the wake afterwards, they couldn’t understand why the majority of people were so jolly , why were we all laughing, eating and drinking. We explained that is was a party for the deceased, to celebrate the life they lived and swop anecdotes.

It took some time for them to understand that it was not disrespectful.

No Glorianny, I do not think that, ( post 11:04:15)
How unpleasant.
It is not our business, at all.

My dgs came to my husband’s funeral in early 2020, pre-COVID. They were 9 & 6 and completely understood what was going on. They behaved perfectly both during the service and afterwards at the wake. I think my mother in law especially found it comforting to have them there.

My granddaughter aged 5 or 6 came to my mother's funeral and gave a short reading! We'd explained everything to her and answered her questions and it was quite uplifting.
The Royal Family have to make their own decisions - and this funeral will probably last far longer than usual funerals which could make a real difference to whether or not Prince George attends

Apparently the length of the service is 55 minutes, everything timed to the nth degree in order to reach Windsor at the correct time for the family comital.

How cynical and unkind, Gloriana. It is entirely up to their parents. They know their children's characters best.
It could be that in twenty years time the children might say how glad they are that they were at their great-grandmother's funeral. Just wondering.

I doubt many of the family funerals mentioned were conducted with millions of people watching , media intrusion, and a very long service .
Surely better for the children to attend the smaller service