Politics
The Queen has lost a consort, a friend and a great love in Prince Philip
THE Queen yesterday woke alone amid the ancient battlements of Windsor Castle and contemplated her new life as a widow after the longest royal marriage in history.
The world’s most famous woman was left without her protector, companion and husband of nearly 74 years across the way in the connecting bedroom.
Read our live blog for the very latest news on Prince Philip’s death…
The Queen was left without her protector and companion of nearly 74 years yesterday[/caption]
After all those decades, the Duke — her guiding light who swore at her coronation in 1953 to be her “liege man of life and limb” — was gone. It will be the most testing of times for a monarch shorn of her consort, confidant, friend and great love.
For Elizabeth II’s reign has very much been a double act and yesterday was the first in her 69 years as Queen without the Duke of Edinburgh. The Sun’s Royal Photographer Arthur Edwards said: “Being the Queen is the world’s loneliest job but at least she always had the Duke to confide in.
“Now she must be wondering how she’ll carry on without him. But she has a backbone of steel, as she’s shown as Head of State for almost 70 years.”
It must have been some solace to the monarch that she and Philip were together in his final days. His simply-decorated bedroom overlooking the castle’s East Terrace was linked to his wife’s more lavish suite by a dressing room. Always on display were two photographs — one of his wife and the other of his mother, Princess Alice, who was born at Windsor Castle.
As this former man of action’s health failed, it must have been of huge comfort to have his loving wife at his side. He spent much of his final weeks snoozing but was typically irascible.
Insiders say that, until recently, he still insisted on dressing himself despite being unsteady on his feet. He would sometimes allow himself to be pushed in a wheelchair but he did not like it.
Royal Photographer Arthur Edwards said: ‘Now she must be wondering how she’ll carry on without him’[/caption]
An aide said: “When it first appeared in the private rooms, he shouted: ‘Get that bloody thing out of my sight!’.” In warmer weather, he asked staff to take a chair outside so that he could sit with a blanket on his legs.
Sun photographer Arthur added: “The Queen and the Duke would have meals together, do the crossword together and discuss the events of the day. They were a brilliant team.”
Prince Philip’s death, as with his life, was very much on his own terms. He was determined to die at home so when his condition worsened on Thursday night, the Queen dismissed any suggestion of returning him to hospital.
A well-placed source said: “He spent most of the four weeks he was in hospital trying to get home. They operated on his heart to give him a little longer, maybe with the 100th birthday in mind. But he didn’t really care about that.
“He just wanted to be back in his own bed. There is no way he would have wanted to die in hospital.” Buckingham Palace declined to “go into any specifics” about the Duke’s final moments but it’s believed the Queen was at his bedside late on Friday morning.
Arthur Edwards believes the Duke would have effectively told eldest son Prince Charles to “look after your mother when I’m gone”. The Prince of Wales was seen leaving Windsor Castle on Friday, shortly after his father’s death. It was also Charles and Camilla’s 16th wedding anniversary.
Philip was determined to die at home so when his condition worsened on Thursday night, the Queen dismissed any suggestion of returning him to hospital[/caption]
Arthur Edwards believes the Duke would have told eldest son Prince Charles to ‘look after your mother when I’m gone’[/caption]
‘My strength and stay all these years’
The Queen, who has rallied a suffering nation in this year of pandemic, is facing her own bereavement in an eight-day period of mourning. There will be no duties, public or private.
After breakfast yesterday, she would have prepared for her children’s arrival. Shortly after 10am, Prince Andrew, who is said to be his mother’s favourite, arrived to comfort Her Majesty. At 10.29am, the Royal Family’s Twitter account underlined to a mourning nation the Queen’s deepest feelings for her husband and shared her 1997 golden wedding anniversary tribute to Prince Philip.
The tweet quoted Her Majesty saying: “He has, quite simply, been my strength and stay all these years, and I, and his whole family, and this and many other countries, owe him a debt greater than he would ever claim, or we shall ever know.” There was also a picture of them.
At around 11am, Prince Edward and his wife Sophie arrived. Royal watchers believe that later in the afternoon, the Queen watched the Grand National as Aintree observed a two- minute silence for her husband.
She is a keen racehorse owner and breeder and is likely to have made her National pick, like millions of others. The Duke, too, was a racing fan and had been an honorary member of the Jockey Club since 1947.
The Queen’s racing and bloodstock adviser John Warren said yesterday: “He became a rather animated ‘armchair jockey’ with great knowledge when watching some of the Queen’s horses running on television.”
The Queen is now facing her own bereavement in an eight-day period of mourning[/caption]
The Royal Family quoted the Queen in a tweet which read ‘He has, quite simply, been my strength and stay all these years’[/caption]
Even without her staunch and loving husband, she will serve her beloved nation[/caption]
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After the race, the Queen would have had time to quietly reflect on the public’s outpouring of emotion at her husband’s passing — and for the gracious plaudits he has won in death that he so often did not receive in life.
In the chilly breeze outside, the Royal Standard fluttered. Unlike other flags, it was not flown at half-mast. Official protocol dictates that it is not lowered when the Queen is in residence.
It was a signal that the institution of the monarchy is resolute even while the Queen suffers such great personal loss. A sure sign that, even without her staunch and loving husband, she will serve her beloved nation with unswerving resolve.
