His older brother,Prince Charles,and nephew,Prince William – first and second in line to the throne – were the ones who insisted Andrew be stripped of his royal duties. It is this pair who now run the family business. The Queen was said to understand their decision,but was unpleased.
It was expected that the Dean of Westminster would take the Queen to her seat,with Andrew behind.
There had already been intrigue about whether she would be there at all. In her 70th year on the throne,she has drastically scaled back her public appearances. She is said to be sharp but struggles to walk and cannot stand for long periods of time. Her attendance at the service was in doubt until just hours before.
The Queen and her second son had travelled together from Windsor to central London but Charles,in particular,reportedly had hoped “common sense” would prevail and that Andrew would not seek to play a prominent role in the service.
Family sources have told the British press that senior royals – including Charles and William,the Duke of Cambridge – were dismayed by events and that Andrew’s decision to put himself “front and centre” of the service had caused “consternation”.
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Andrew,62,had a front-row seat close to his siblings. On his left were his brother,Prince Edward,the Earl of Wessex,and his family. Across an aisle to his right were his sister,Anne,the Princess Royal;Camilla,the Duchess of Cornwall;Charles and his mother.
Andrew’s daughter,Princess Beatrice,covered her face as she wept at the sight of her father walking her grandmother to her seat. She was seen peeking out at the pair from behind a hymn sheet before reaching into her handbag for a tissue.
She had reportedly a key role in persuading him to do the now infamous BBC interview last year which,in an attempt to clear his name,backfired spectacularly. The rumour is she has barely stopped crying since.
Former BBC royal correspondent Peter Hunt asked the question everyone was thinking:“Did William and Charles try to intervene? Clearly,if they did then they failed.”
But Joe Little,managing editor ofMajesty Magazine,toldThe Times that the Prince’s role accompanying his mother may have been a matter of “practicality”.
“I suppose we should always expect the unexpected on big royal occasions and I don’t think anybody had guessed that this is what would happen,” he said.
The Queen shed no tears but was visibly moved as she listened to the national anthem at the end of the service. The Duke,who died aged 99 last year,was given the farewell he had hoped for in a service that included hymns and guests who had been left out of his funeral on April 17 last year because of COVID-19 restrictions.
Just two weeks ago,the palace was worrying about the optics of the Queen in a wheelchair.
It could not have been any worse.
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