On April 17th, 2021, Queen Elizabeth attended the funeral for her husband Prince Philip,
who died on April 9th, 2021, at the age of 99. The queen bid farewell to Philip after
73 years of marriage. The couple shared four children, eight grandchildren, and 10 great-grandchildren.
The queen was driven to St. George's Chapel on the grounds of her residence at Windsor
Castle, in a black car, dressed in all black, with a black mask covering much of her face.
She walked into the chapel alongside the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, and took a seat
in a pew near the altar.
After the service, Philip's casket was lowered into the royal vault, which is located below
the chapel, according to The Sun. The queen was escorted out of the chapel by Welby, where
she got back into a black car that took her home. However, there is one photo in particular
that was taken of the queen inside the chapel that has social media in tears.
Queen Elizabeth sat alone in the chapel during Prince Philip's funeral. She was photographed
sitting at the end of a pew, dressed in black, with her black hat and face mask. The queen
sat alone without anyone around her due to precautions taken because of the coronavirus
pandemic. The rest of her immediate family, including her son Prince Charles, was seated
in the pews directly across from her. According to Town & Country, the plan was to have the
queen sit by herself to help ensure her safety when it comes to her health. If the pandemic
didn't exist, the queen would have been surrounded by her loved ones, and the pews would have
been filled with family members on both sides of the center aisle. Instead, coronavirus
guidelines were adhered to, and different households sat spaced out, at least six feet
apart.
Town & Country points out that the queen was not alone when she was driven to and from
the chapel. Aside from the driver of the State Bentley, the queen was accompanied by a lady-in-waiting.
Queen Elizabeth is expected to enter into a lengthy period of mourning following the
death of her husband, according to People. While she may keep up with a handful of royal
duties, she is expected to take an extended break.
The viral photo of Queen Elizabeth II sitting alone is a sharp contrast to one of the last
royal funerals heavily covered by the media. On April 8th, 2002, Elizabeth's mother, with
whom she shared a name (and who, after her daughter assumed the throne in 1953, was known
as Elizabeth, the Queen Mother) embarked on her final journey through the streets of London
following her death eight days prior. Per the custom of her state funeral, Elizabeth
was surrounded by a coterie every step of the way, from the doors of Buckingham Palace
to the doors of Westminster Abbey, where the funeral service took place, according to the
BBC's coverage at the time.
As the news network also noted, Elizabeth seemed to adhere to the British stiff upper
lip throughout her mother's more public-facing facet of her funeral, which featured the Archbishop
of Canterbury delivering the eulogy. However, Prince Charles, the grandson of the Queen
Mother, was described as appearing to be, quote, "on the brink of tears," while Elizabeth
nearby "listened intently with her head bowed," per another report by the BBC. Despite her
contained demeanor during the ceremony at Westminster, it is unclear whether she retained
the same level of composure later on at the private funeral held at St. George's Chapel.
While Queen Elizabeth II was surrounded by family during the April 2002 of the Queen
Mother, it provoked far less controversy than another royal funeral that had occurred roughly
five years prior. As many might recall, the 1997 death of Princess Diana — who had only
been officially divorced from her ex-husband Prince Charles of Wales for roughly a year
before she was killed in a car accident alongside her then-boyfriend, Egyptian heir Dodi Fayed
— was compounded with prior reports of purportedly being at odds with the monolith of the British
royal family (via Town & Country).
As the Irish Times and other publications noted at the time, reports from Buckingham
Palace that Elizabeth had wanted to give Diana a private funeral as opposed to a ceremonial
one — meaning that members of the public would've been barred from paying their respects
and saying their goodbyes to the popular "People's Princess" — caused controversy, casting
a negative light on the royal family due to these allegations. Per the Irish Times, rumors
at the time also included that Earl Spencer, Diana's brother, had argued with the Windsors
over similar details. To wit, the royal family categorically denied these claims, and as
such, Elizabeth II attended the internationally televised funeral, along with the rest of
her family.