It’s a very important first family ceremony which took place in London this Wednesday: almostone week after death of Queen Elizabeth II, her entire clan gathered for a long procession from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall, where the coffin will now be on public display, before a grand funeral on Monday, September 19.
And while King Charles III, his siblings Princess Anne and Princes Andrew of York and Edward of Wessex, and his sons Princes William and Harry walked for 38 minutes behind the coffin, the rest of the family was not far away: surrounding Queen Camilla, Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle, the six other grandchildren of the sovereign were presentaccompanied by their husbands.
And in the front line, the princesses Béatrice and Eugenie: the daughters of the Duke of York, very popular, had indeed made the trip on Tuesday evening to receive with their family the coffin of their grandmother, accompanied by their respective husbands, Edoardo Mapello Mozzi and Jack Brooksbank. The two couples, who attended the Jubilee together last June, are very close and showed many tears during the religious ceremony which took place after the coffin arrived at Westminster. Princess Eugenie, very close to her grandmother, notably suffered a lot of tears during the short office, during which they were placed apart from senior members of the family.
However, their presence was expected: since the death of Queen Elizabeth II, Princess Beatrice has indeed taken the lead in the family! The young thirty-year-old is now special adviser to King Charles III and was able to count on their cousin, Zara Phillips, surrounded by her husband, Mike Tindall, the former rugby player and father of her three children (Mia, 8, Lena , 4 years old, and Lucas, 1 year old), always present at his side on special occasions and particularly moved.
His brother Peter, meanwhile, had walked down the Mall with his cousins, always very discreet. Finally, the youngest of the family, Louise and James from Wessex (18 and 14 years old) were also present, silent but moved.
The cousins, welded, had already met the public
All the cousins had already done a very media appearance last Saturday : together in Balmoral around the coffin of the queen, they had gone to meditate in the small church near the private castle of their grandmother. Dressed in black, they had read the little notes placed in front of the gates and admired the bouquets of flowers, even chatting with the very many onlookers present.
An unexpected exit during which the cousins Zara and Beatrice had seemed very touched : the first had literally collapsed in tears on arriving there and had been consoled by her mother, Princess Anne, while the second had been seen snuggling in the arms of her father, the maligned Prince Andrew.
Their little cousin Louise, increasingly popular in the monarchy, had also been rather shaken and had not let go of the hand of her mother, Countess Sophie of Wessex. However, she was consoled by Princess Eugenie who laid a comforting hand on her back.