Royals reunited minus the Queen but she remains ‘in the saddle’
THEroyalfamilywereunited in celebration of the Queen at her Service of Thanksgiving as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex publicly joined relatives for the first time since quitting official duties.
The Queen was missing from the gathering but the Duchess of Cambridge said later she had enjoyed Thursday's historic Platinum Jubilee celebrations but the day had been "very tiring".
Harry and Meghan were the focus of attention in the absence of the monarch and the couple, after their decision to step down as working royals for financial freedom, were relegated to a second rowseatinStPaul'sCathedral.
The 96-year-old Queen watchedtheserviceontelevision from Windsor Castle after she suffered "discomfort" following a busy first day of festivities including a double balcony appearance and a beacon lighting. Buckingham Palace later confirmed theQueen,apassionatehorse ownerandbreeder,wouldnot beattendingtheEpsomDerby today.
More than 2,000 people filled the historic church including Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who was booed by the crowd outside, Cabinet ministers, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, first ministers of the devolved governments andeverylivingformerprime minister.
There were smiles from the royals and ripples of laughter from the congregation as the Archbishop of York compared the monarch's well-known love of horse racing to her long reign, suggesting it ‘reflects the distance of Aintree more than the sprints of Epsom’.
The Queen was, the Most Rev Stephen Cottrell said, ’still in the saddle’, as he thanked her for ‘staying the course’, to smiles from Olympic equestrian Zara and the Earl and Countess of Wessex.