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» ‘Rota’ will mean Queen is not alone » Harry set to miss her 95th birthday
ROYALS have pledged to rally round the Queen as she prepares for her birthday without Prince Philip. Family members led by daughter Princess Anne have agreed a rota to visit the grieving monarch at Windsor and to spend time helping her deal with her loss. One source said: “The Queen will not be alone.”
But Prince Harry will miss his gran’s 95th birthday on Wednesday as he flies back to pregnant wife Meghan in the US.
THE Queen may have cut a solitary figure at Philip’s funeral service, but her family vowed she will not be left alone as she comes to terms with life without him.
Royals have agreed a rota to visit the monarch while she continues to grieve the loss of her beloved companion of 73 years, even though she has insisted she is “coping”.
They will take walks in Windsor with her and her two new corgi puppies, as she prepares for her 95th birthday on Wednesday.
But Prince Harry will not be among them because he is expected to fly back to the US in the next 24 hours.
One source said: “The Queen will not be alone.
“She will have others who care about her deeply and want to be there to support her in her most pressing hour. In typical fashion the Queen has insisted she is coping and despite the suggestion she had prepared herself for this day to come, everyone is well aware there is nothing like the experience when it comes.”
The Queen’s daughter Princess Anne, daughters-in-law the Duchess of Cornwall and the Countess of Wessex, supported by the Duchess of Cambridge, have come together to form the plan for regular visits.
The monarch was seen out yesterday, a day after Philip’s funeral, as she left her Windsor home behind the wheel of a green Jaguar.
She will continue to live at the castle, where she spent the majority of the last 13 months with her husband, who died on April 9 aged 99.
Millions around the world watched as she had to sit alone in St George’s Chapel as she said her final goodbye to him on Saturday due to the Covid restrictions affecting funerals.
After her bubble partner had departed, the Queen chose to sit unaccompanied. Only her son Prince Andrew was nearby, at a two metre distance from her.
Her only comfort was a treasured photo of her and Philip as newlyweds, that she had placed in her handbag alongside one of his handkerchiefs.
Prince Charles is expected to visit his mother this week, taking the 90-minute drive from his country home Highgrove in Gloucestershire.
Princess Anne will also pop in from her home at Gatcombe Park, while the Countess of Wessex, who has for years enjoyed a fabulous relationship with the Queen, has planned several visits in the coming days with her children Louise, 17, and James, 13. The Duchess of Cambridge, who at the weekend returned to London with husband Prince William and their three children, has already scheduled video calls with the Queen and her greatgrandchildren to celebrate her birthday. But Harry, 36, will miss the event as he returns to California to be with heavily pregnant wife Meghan, expected to give birth in early June,
and their son Archie, one. The