‘I’ll be there for Philip’
THE Queen will muster all her fortitude in a bid to attend the memorial service for her “strength and stay” Prince Philip next week.
Despite her advanced years and frailty, she has told aides of Tuesday’s dedication to the Duke of Edinburgh at Westminster Abbey: “I will be there for Philip.”
The thanksgiving will be poignant for the monarch as it is being held in the place where the couple married in 1947, 75 years ago in November.
Dickie Arbiter, the Queen’s former official spokesman, said of the sovereign’s appearance earlier this week: “By goodness she looked sparkling and as sharp as a nail.
“The service is not something she will want to miss and I don’t think she will.
“Looking ahead to her Platinum Jubilee weekend, she will not want to miss Trooping the Colour, the thanksgiving service the day after, the pageant on the Sunday and most certainly not Epsom Derby, after not being able to go because of Covid.
“A winner has eluded her for 70 years – is this finally going to be her year?”
Concern has mounted over the Queen’s health following the death of her husband in April last year at 99, and the ongoing pandemic.
She now uses a walking stick and only carries out light duties, including virtual meetings, coupled with the occasional face-to-face audience.
Last week the 95-year-old monarch missed the Commonwealth Day service and was represented by the Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cornwall and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at Westminster Abbey.
She last attended a formal public engagement on October 19, when she held a reception at Windsor Castle for global business leaders, before pulling out of a trip to
Northern Ireland on medical advice the next morning.
Later that same day she was admitted to hospital in London for “preliminary investigations” and kept in overnight.
But on Wednesday, a smiling Queen looked radiant and healthy as she viewed a display of hand-decorated teapots and antique enamelled trinkets at Windsor Castle, brought by the Staffordshire firm Halcyon Days.
On March 7 she also met with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, her first in-person meeting since recovering from Covid.
A Palace spokesman said last night that the Queen “hopes to attend” Tuesday’s event but that a decision will be made based on how she feels on the day.
The service will be the largest gathering of senior royals and dignitaries since Philip’s funeral at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, on April 17 last year.
All family members, including the Queen and Philip’s scandalplagued son Prince Andrew, 62, plan to attend, apart from Prince Harry and his wife Meghan.
Other monarchs attending include Queen Margrethe of Denmark, King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg, King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands, King Harald and Queen Sonja of Norway, King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain and King Carl Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden.
It is thought the Queen will take a helicopter from Windsor to Buckingham Palace before being driven to Westminster Abbey where she will be ushered through the church’s shielded cloisters and taken to her seat away from public view.