STOIC QUEEN: HUGE VOID IN MY LIFE
LOSING her beloved Philip has left a “huge void”, the Queen has confided.
Royal Family members yesterday spoke of their admiration for Her
Majesty as she mourns the love of her life. They shared their thoughts as Prince Harry arrived back in the UK to pay his respects and attend his grandfather’s funeral.
Prince Andrew revealed his mother’s feelings after a church service, where several Royals had said prayers for the Duke of Edinburgh.
He said: “It’s a terrible loss. We’ve lost almost the grandfather of the nation.”
Asked how his mother was coping, Andrew said: “The Queen, as you would expect, is an incredibly stoic person.”
He agreed she had felt blessed to have had Philip home for the last 24 days of his life after a month in hospital.
Andrew, 61, added: “She described it as having left a huge void in her life.
“But we, the family, the ones that are close, are rallying around to make sure that we are there to support her.”
Facing widowhood after 69 years on the throne, the 94-year-old monarch’s inner strength came through yesterday when three of her children spoke of their admiration for both of their parents.
The Queen, who will mark her 95th birthday on April 21 during a two-week period of royal mourning for Philip, said prayers for her husband during a private mass at Windsor Castle yesterday.
Affection
It is understood that the mass was not in St George’s Chapel, which is currently closed, or her private chapel, where Philip’s coffin currently lies.
Her daughter-in-law Sophie, the Countess of Wessex, joined Prince Edward, their daughter Lady Louise Windsor, and Andrew at the Royal Chapel of All Saints at Royal Lodge on theWindsor estate.
She spoke of her admiration for the Queen’s response.
Asked how Her Majesty was yesterday, she replied: “Thinking of others before herself. She’s amazing.”
Edward, 57, thanked the public for their tributes. He said: “It’s just that wave of affection for him and those lovely stories.
“They just mean so much and the tributes have been just fantastic. That’s really important and we really do appreciate it.”
Sophie, 56, described the moment of Philip’s death to one member of the congregation, made up mostly of royal estate workers.
She said: “It was right for him. It was so gentle. It was just like somebody took him by the hand and off he went.
“Very peaceful and that’s all you want for somebody, isn’t it?
“So I think it’s so much easier for the person that goes than the people that are left behind.”
Separately, Princess Anne paid her own tribute, describing her father as “my teacher, my supporter and my critic”.
Philip died peacefully at Windsor Castle on Friday morning, two months before his 100th birthday.
The Queen has since received regular visits from her children.
Yesterday, the family members all spoke of their shock at Philip’s death.
Edward said: “It’s been a bit of a shock. However much one tries to prepare oneself for something like this, it’s still a dreadful shock and we’re still trying to come to terms with that.” The words were echoed by Andrew, who spoke separately from his brother and sisterin-law after the service. He said the family were grateful for all the “amazing tributes” to his father. Andrew, who stepped down from royal duties in November 2019, said of Philip: “He was a remarkable man. I loved him as a father. He was so calm. If you had a problem, he would think about it.
“That’s the great thing that I always think about, that he was always somebody you could go to and he would always listen. So it’s a great loss.
“I think the way I would put it is, we’ve lost almost the grandfather of the nation. And I feel very sorry and supportive of my mother who’s feeling it probably more than everybody else.”
Andrew said his father’s death had brought home how many people have been bereaved during the coronavirus outbreak.
He said: “My father said to me on the telephone a few months ago, ‘We are all in the same boat and we must always remember that, but occasionally we, the family, are asked to stand up and show compassion and leadership.’
“And unfortunately, with my father’s death, it has brought it home to me, not just our loss, but actually the loss that everybody else has felt, for so many people who have died and lost loved ones during the pandemic.”
Looking sombre and reflective, the royal party spoke to workers from the Windsor estate and the congregation when they arrived at All Saints, which the Queen normally attends outside of lockdown.
The family thanked everyone for their
support over the past few days. Britain will fall silent for a minute at 3pm on Saturday ahead of Philip’s funeral at St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle.
Demands for a statue of Prince Philip to mark his life of public service have won cross-party support.
Thousands signed a petition calling for a prominent monument in London to commemorate the Duke.
The Mall, which already has bronze figures of King George VI and the Queen Mother, would be the most likely location.
Downing Street insiders said it was too early to finalise plans but pointed out all previous consorts have statues and that the Government would be supportive.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer would also back such a move, according to sources in the party.
One source said: “The Duke of Edinburgh dedicated his life to the service of our country and the Queen.
“A statue would seem a fitting tribute for his years of service.” Liberal Democrats leader Sir Ed Davey said he backed the plans for a statue.
He said: “A statue is exactly what should happen. I think it would be appropriate if it was a statue of the Duke with the Queen.”
The bronze of King George VI shows the king dressed in naval uniform and was unveiled by the Queen in 1955.
More than half a century later, a statue of the Queen Mother at 51, the age she was widowed, was erected near to her husband’s monument. It cost £2million and was funded by a £5 coin, produced by the Royal Mint to celebrate the Queen’s 80th birthday.
The petition called for the Duke to be given a similar tribute.
It said the 22,000 engagements he carried out and support for 780 organisations should be formally recognised, along with “his great personal dedication and support” to the Queen.
Meanwhile, actress Joanna Lumley paid a warm tribute to the Duke yesterday.The star, 74, said meeting Philip had been a
“great pleasure”.
She said: “He was very kind, you know. I think that’s quite often overlooked. He was very funny and very sharp, but very kind.
“I think he liked vigour, he liked get-up-and-go.
“He didn’t like moaners, he liked people who challenged themselves.
“And then for the very humble and the frail and nervous, I think he was kind.
“The whole of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award is to make people better, to make people see the best in themselves, and I think he did that when talking to people as well.”
She also spoke of Philip’s passion for the environment, adding: ‘When you think how far ahead he was in realising this perfect world we live in can only be ruined by human beings.
“He was always interested in those sorts of things, he was invigorating company.”
IN ITS SCALE and solemnity, the outpouring of grief at the death of Prince Philip represents a heartfelt national tribute to this extraordinary figure. The expressions of sorrow reflect profound gratitude for his long life of unstinting service, his steadfast devotion to the Queen, his wartime bravery and his charismatic personality.
Before he married in 1947, some snobbish peers privately muttered that he was “no gentleman” because of his unorthodox background as an exiled member of the deposed Greek Royal Family. Yet over the subsequent decades he proved himself the epitome of chivalry.
Today’s sadness again highlights the cherished central role that the Crown plays in our British way of life. The mourning and reverence are bound up with our monarchical system of governance whose roots reinforce our sense of identity and continuity with our past. It is inconceivable that there would be such a wave of emotion if Britain were a republic and the spouse of the president had just died.
The painful feeling of loss at the Prince’s passing is also an indicator of how successful the monarchy has been under Queen Elizabeth II. In our age of advanced democracy and noisy social media, the existence of the Crown, based on the hereditary principle, might seem an anachronism.
BUT whatever its theoretical flaws, it works in practice. Over the centuries it has gradually evolved into a highly effective, extremely popular means of constitutional rule that provides unity, protects liberty and promotes stability.
Other countries, without a royal head of state, may sometimes feel envious of Britain’s record. The French executed Louis XVI in 1793 at the height of the Revolution and since then have tried out 16 different constitutions. The British monarchy succeeds precisely because it operates above the realm of politics. Not since Queen Anne in 1708 has any sovereign vetoed a piece of legislation passed by Parliament. Nor has any sovereign tried to appoint a prime minister against the will of the Commons since William IV’s futile attempt to ask the Duke of Wellington to form a Government in 1832.
The strength of the Crown today lies in this lack of any real power, so it is not dragged into controversy. Political impotence is the key to symbolic influence. The system also suits the politicians who can get on with running the country.
It is estimated that in the USA, where the head of state is elected in often explosively bitter contests, around half of the President’s time is taken up in ceremony and related tasks.
The British monarchy has worked particularly well since the start of the Queen’s reign because of the dedication she and her consort always showed. Prince Philip once shrewdly commented that a modern Crown could only survive with the public consent. “If at any stage people feel it has no further use, then for goodness sake, let’s end the thing,” he declared.
YET popularity was maintained through the commitment to duty he and Elizabeth II always displayed.
The Prince’s achievement was particularly impressive given the dysfunctional nature of his nomadic upbringing.
Abandoned by his playboy father, and with his mother in a psychiatric clinic, he was effectively an orphan for much of his childhood. Yet, unlike so many
modern celebrities, and some younger Royals, he never complained. “Just get on with it,” were his watchwords.
Throughout his long years of service, Prince Philip also recognised that the monarchy had to adapt if it were to stay relevant. The Irish philosopher and politician Edmund Burke wrote that “the state without the means of change is without the means of its conservation.”
The same is true of the Crown. That is why the Prince was such a keen moderniser, using his natural authority and experience as a naval commander to push through reforms such as improving the efficiency of the royal households, making the Court less socially exclusive, setting up the Duke of Edinburgh award scheme and promoting TV coverage of the Royal Family.
In all this pioneering work, he was helped by his fascination with science, technology and engineering.
It is in part a testament to his mastery that today, Republican sentiment is almost non-existent in Britain. Ironically, a poll conducted in the late 1960s showed that, if Britain were a republic, he would have been the favourite to become our first president.
But he made a far bigger contribution as the greatest consort in history.
‘He recognised the monarchy had to adapt to remain relevant’