THE Queen could take a step back from duties after the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral, a royal historian claims.
Her Majesty would have found the service an ordeal and it represented a turning point for the monarchy, Professor Sarah Richardson added.
Read our Prince Philip funeral live blog for the latest updates
The Monarch, 94, sat alone today as she laid the Duke of Edinburgh, who stood by her side for seven decades of unwavering service, to rest.
University of Warwick’s Prof Richardson said: “To some extent this is the end of a period. The Queen will carry on and she will carry on doing her duty, she’s already gone back to work to some extent.
“I think she will step back more and more, she’s in her mid-90s. Seeing her there solely on her own, when she’s been accompanied by Philip for 70-odd years, I think it represents a turning point.”
It comes as…
- A sombre Queen sat alone on the “saddest and most difficult day” as she bid farewell to husband prince Philip
- Prince Harry and William shared a private chat as they left the funeral
- The brothers sat facing each other during the service at St George’s Chapel
- Meghan Markle left a handwritten note to Prince Philip
- The Duchess of Sussex watched the funeral from the US after not being able to fly to the UK for the service
- Prince Charles fought back tears at the emotional funeral
- Kate Middleton gave a touching nod to Diana and the Queen by wearing a pearl choker
- The Duke of Edinburgh’s coffin was lowered into the Royal Vault
Our stoic Queen went back to work four days after Prince Philip died aged 99 last Friday.
She marked the retirement of her household’s most senior official.
Prof Richardson added: “She has a really strong sense of service and duty and protocol and she’s attended many funerals in the past and she strongly follows the rituals and so on.
“In some ways it would have been comforting for her that the Duke of Edinburgh played such a strong role in planning and organising the service but it must have been an ordeal at the very least.”
Just 30 mourners attended Philip’s funeral at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor this afternoon due to Covid rules.
While the Queen sat alone for the service, embers of the Royal Family were also present, including her four children Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Edward and Prince Andrew.
And Princes William, 38, and Harry, 36, came face-to-face for the first time since the Duke of Sussex quit royal life – and since his explosive Oprah Winfrey chat.
The pair were kept 12ft apart as they walked behind Prince Philip’s coffin, separated by Princess Anne’s son Peter Phillips, 43 – a pal of both.
But the brothers, who both walked behind their mother Princess Diana’s coffin in 1997, shared a private moment and chatted after the service.
She insisted that William, Harry and Kate’s chat would have been intentional, adding: “The whole family apart from the Queen walked back to the castle from the chape.
“The fact that Harry walked with William and Kate I think was perhaps a symbol that there is at least a willingness to talk and perhaps have some rapprochement between the two princes.”
