By Jonathan Petre
IT WAS a sight to lift the hearts of a ‘sombre’ nation – the Royal children waving joyfully to the crowds outside Buckingham Palace following Trooping the Colour.
Prince George and Princess Charlotte stole the show – with the two-year-old leaning on her brother’s shoulder as they joined the Queen, Prince Philip and other senior Royals to watch as the RAF flypast roared overhead.
Prince George, three, resplendent in bright red braces to match his father’s scarlet tunic, stood on tiptoe to watch the display, occasionally placing his hands over his eyes.
And Charlotte, dressed in pink like her mother, the Duchess of Cambridge, stood on a box so she could be seen more easily.
She copied her big brother by covering one of her eyes. The young Royals had earlier delighted spectators by peeking out from behind Palace windows.
The event to mark the Queen’s official birthday – her actual birthday was in April when she was 91 – was missed by Theresa May, who met victims of the Grenfell Tower fire at Downing Street.
But the stirring ceremony, involving 1,600 guardsmen and 244 horses, provided a welcome fillip amid what the Queen had acknowledged in a message was ‘a very sombre national mood’.