WHAT A GRAND LINE-UP!
The Queen and Philip with greatgrandchildren, from left, George (with grazed knee), Louis, Charlotte, Savannah Phillips, Isla Phillips, Lena Tindall and Mia Tindall
SENIOR members of the Royal Family last night remembered Prince Philip as a much-loved husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather.
Buckingham Palace issued a stunning portrait, taken by the Duchess of Cambridge, of the Queen and Philip with seven of their ten great-grandchildren at Balmoral in the summer of 2018.
The Queen is holding Prince Louis, William and Kate’s youngest child, who would have been just a few months old.
Next to her stands Prince George, five, sporting a grazed knee below his tartan shorts. Princess Charlotte, three, spirited as ever, proudly holds her baby brother’s hand and waves to someone slightly off camera. Behind her is Savannah Phillips, the elder daughter of Peter and Autumn Phillips. Her younger sister, Isla, is snuggled up to Philip, as she clutches her newborn cousin, Lena Tindall, the second daughter of Zara Phillips, whose little foot rests on Philip’s knee.
Lena’s big sister, Mia Tindall, leans against the sofa in a pretty pink dress.
The three missing great-grandchildren – all born after the picture was taken – are Archie, son of Harry and Meghan; August Brooksbank, Princess Eugenie’s little boy; and Lucas Tindall.
A second unseen picture, released by Kensington Palace, was taken at Balmoral in the summer of 2015. The Queen beams at baby Charlotte while William holds toddler George’s hand. Philip, smartly dressed in a tweed suit and orange tie, stands ramrod straight for the camera.
Another new photograph released by Clarence House shows Prince Charles aged 17 and his father on polo ponies in 1966. Yesterday Princess Anne reminisced about learning to sail as a child with her father when she visited two yacht clubs on the Isle of Wight.
Philip went to Cowes Week for 50 years and was Admiral of the Royal Yacht Squadron and president of the Royal Yachting Association, a position now held by Anne. She went ahead with the planned visits as a tribute to her late father because the Queen felt ‘it was what he would have wanted’.
Princess Eugenie paid tribute to Philip on Instagram, pledging to look after ‘Granny’ for him. Recalling how he ‘swooped in’ after she ‘incinerated’ sausages at a barbecue, she wrote: ‘You would be so touched by all the tributes that have been shared with me.’