Queen’s youngest grandchild James Viscount Severn, 14, joins sister Lady Louise at funeral
Young royal donned his Diamond and Platinum Jubilee medals
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Your support makes all the difference.Queen Elizabeth II’s youngest grandson attended the late monarch’s state funeral alongside his sister Lady Louise.
James, Viscount Severn, 14, looked downcast as he bid farewell to his grandmother at Westminster Abbey wearing a traditional black suit alongside his sister 18-year-old Lady Louise.
The young royal wore his Diamond and Platinum Jubilee medals. The commemorative medals were designed for the Queen's Jubilee celebrations, and she gave them to members of the family.
The pair joined their older cousins in mourning the late monarch and also took part in a silent vigil by her coffin two days before the funeral.
Just as King Charles had led his siblings in the Vigil of the Princes on Friday evening, his son Prince William was joined by his brother Harry and their cousins in Westminster Hall for the brief ceremony.
The others taking part included Prince Andrew’s children Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie; Princess Anne’s two children Zara Tindall and Peter Philips and Prince Edward’s daughter Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor.
James is the second child of Prince Edward and Sophie, Countess of Wessex, who married in June 1999. He was born in December 2007, some four years after Louise, who arrived in November 2003.
When both children were born, Edward and Sophie opted not to give the pair royal titles – although it is at the discretion of James and Louise at to whether they choose to receive the prince and princess titles when they turn 18.
“We try to bring them up with the understanding they are very likely to have to work for a living,” the Countess of Wessex previously said about their decision to not give their children titles. “Hence we made the decision not to use HRH titles. They have them and can decide to use them from 18, but I think it’s highly unlikely.”
She also spoke in 2016 about her attempts to keep her son and daughter out of the public spotlight while they are children.
Sophie told the BBC: “Certainly when they were very young we tried to keep them out of it. Only because for their sakes, to grow up as normally as possible we felt was quite important.
“And they’re going to have to go out and get a job and earn a living later on in life and if they’ve had a normal a start in life they possibly can get, then hopefully that will stand them in good stead.”
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