Queen mourned and sat ‘alone with her own thoughts’ after Philip’s funeral
Her Majesty sat alone during the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral due to social distancing measures at the time
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The Queen spent time by herself to mourn the loss of the Duke of Edinburgh following his funeral last year, her personal adviser has revealed.
According to Angela Kelly, Her Majesty shut herself in her sitting room and was “alone with her own thoughts” after returning to Windsor Castle from St George’s Chapel last April.
Kelly, the Queen’s senior dresser and personal adviser, revealed the monarch’s mourning in solitude in an update of her book, titled The Other Side of the Coin: The Queen, the Dresser and the Wardrobe.
A new chapter, which is being added in honour of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, covers the pandemic and Prince Philip’s funeral.
Kelly wrote: “I helped her off with her coat and no words were spoken.
“The Queen then walked to her sitting room, closed the door behind her, and she was alone with her own thoughts.”
The Duke died on 9 April 2021 at the age of 99, just two months shy of his 100th birthday.
His funeral was held on 17 April 2021 under strict Covid restrictions that limited the number of people who could attend it and social distancing measures meant that the Queen had to sit alone.
Images of the 95-year-old monarch sitting by herself during the event, surrounded by only 30 mourners, led to an outpouring of sorrow and sympathy for her.
The Prince of Wales, the Princess Royal, the Duke of York and the Earl of Wessex walked behind their father’s coffin during the funeral procession, followed by the Dukes of Cambridge and Sussex.
This year, Philip was honoured in a memorial at Westminster Abbey on 29 March, which saw around 1,800 guests gather including senior royals and some of the Duke’s older great-grandchildren, as well as foreign dignitaries.
Kelly was part of “HMS Bubble”, the nickname believed to have been given to the reduced household of dedicated staff who isolated with the Queen during lockdown.
She has worked with Her Majesty for nearly 30 years and her book, which was published with the Queen’s blessing, became a Sunday Times Top Ten Bestseller when it was first released in 2019.
The new chapter, which will be published by Hello! Magazine this week, also reveals how much happiness the Queen’s two new puppies, Muick and Sandy, brought her during the coronavirus lockdown.
Staff in the “HMS Bubble” also held their own sports day dubbed the “Bubble Olympics”, Kelly writes, which the Queen watched secretly from afar.
She later hosted a prize-giving ceremony for members of her household bubble, much to the “surprise and delight” of those who took part.
Additional reporting by PA
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