It’s been a really tough time for the British Royal Family. After bidding heartfelt farewell to The Queen, the Royal Family remain in mourning until next Monday. No one was expecting to see the Royals out and about a very public grieving the matriarch of the family. So it was a happy surprise when The Prince and Princess of Wales, William and Catherine, stepped out in Windsor to meet and thank the staff and volunteers who were involved in The Queen’s funeral in Windsor and made sure everything goes smoothly.
The Prince and Princess of Wales visited Windsor Guildhall and thanked all those who have worked so tirelessly to ensure that everyone visiting Windsor over the past two weeks has had a safe and positive experience. The Royal couple talked to many staff members and volunteers who had been working for many days behind the scene. They met with St John’s Ambulance crew, Crown Estate staff, council workers and volunteers to hear how the logistics had worked.
Hundreds of thousands of people turned out to watch the funeral of Britain’s longest-serving monarch on Monday, packing out streets and public spaces in central London and in Windsor, where she was laid to rest at a chapel in Windsor Castle.
Catherine told one of the guests that she saw the preparations and was very impressed with what the team had done with the procession and the service at the St. George’s Chapel. From Daily Mirror’s report,
The public’s wave of heartfelt tributes to the Queen left Prince William ‘choked up’ as he explained seeing Paddington among the flowers left him struggling to maintain his composure. The Prince and Princess of Wales have thanked the unsung heroes who helped stage Monday’s funeral in Windsor, telling them their “seamless” operation had made it an “extraordinary” experience.
The Prince and Princess arranged to meet dozens of those responsible for the major public operation in Berkshire, from the man who arranged the portable toilets to the people moving the flowers and organising the bin collections. Giving their personal thanks for the 24-hour-a-day operations that ran between the late Queen’s death and the end of her funeral, they said they were deeply grateful for the efforts of so many.
All the royal duties have been cancelled for the week. Catherine was scheduled to attend a Laver Cup practice match with Swiss Tennis Champion Roger Federer. The engagement was scheduled when Catherine was The Duchess of Cambridge. No one thought in a matter of fewer than two weeks history will change and rewrite itself. And now we have Catherine, The Princess of Wales. Continuing from Daily Mirror’s report,
William says he was so touched by the public’s tributes but says it was the sight of Paddington among the flowers that left him struggling to keep his composure. “Seeing the flowers was really moving,” said William. “We did have a good look. It was the depth of flowers, not just here but at Sandringham too. It was really moving. We tried to read as much as we could [of messages with the flowers] but some were like essays, it was incredible. The children’s ones were very special to me. It’s the things you don’t expect that get you. Paddington got me quite choked up.”
He went on to joke that there had become “a bit of competition” between the corgis and Paddington which were now associated with the Queen, suggesting he would be Team Corgi if pushed to choose. “The corgis and Paddington were in competition, at loggerheads!” he said. “Paddington is a new addition; the corgis have been there longer.”
After The Queen’s death, there were many rainbows in London and Balmoral. We all were saying The Queen has given her blessing to the Family and William told the guests at the Guildhall that the family also noticed those beautiful rainbows and told how the family has been doing since. Continuing from Russell Myer’s report,
Saying the family had seen five rainbows above Balmoral during the time they were in Scotland after her death on September 8, the Prince said the unusual sight had left them astonished.
“In Scotland, how many rainbows turned up?” he asked the Princess. “You hardly ever see rainbows up there, but there were five.” Smiling at him, the Princess said: “Her Majesty was looking down on us.”
The Prince reminisced about his family’s own conversations about the late Queen since she had died.
“We were saying the other day, the Queen said she had never been rained on at the Cenotaph in 70 years,” he said. “So we will see what happens this year.”
Embed from Getty Images Returning to the preparations for the funeral, the parents-of-three spoke of how they had been marvelling at it on the school run from their new home in Windsor.
“When we’ve been doing the school run, we’ve been able to see the preparations going up. We’ve seen it growing,” said the Princess. It must have been quite a mission. The Princess called the “footage and imagery” from the day of the funeral “extraordinary”, marvelling at hoe “different generations from all walks of life” had come out for the Queen.
“It was amazing how everyone seemed to want to come,” she said. “Reading some of the messages, the Queen had a personal relationship with ever one of these people.
“The messages that were left show the Queen had a special meaning to everybody.” The Royal Family, William said, had been “all quite worried that everyone coming here could lock the whole town down and come to a standstill”, causing “disruption for everybody”.
The Waleses were personally grateful that they could “still get the children to and from school”, said Kate.
Thanking the team of staff and volunteers, William and Catherine said, “You guys have been doing such long hours. It was seamless, you could feel it. It couldn’t have gone the way it did without your help. We really appreciate all the hard work and long hours, so thank you. It made us feel like people care. We were sharing it with everyone else, which made it less hard. It’s been a busy week for everyone. It showed how hard people behind the scenes have been working.”
Thank you to all those who have worked so tirelessly to ensure that everyone visiting Windsor over the past two weeks has had a safe & positive experience.
It was a pleasure to meet just a small number of staff & volunteers today. We are hugely grateful for all of your efforts. pic.twitter.com/jrkSSrimg4
— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) September 22, 2022
The Princess added, “You can be so proud of it. It was extraordinary from the family’s perspective but also for the public. All these different things like car parking and logistics. We couldn’t believe how far people had come.”
As per the Windsor authorities, More than 100,000 people visited Windsor as the town hosted the Procession and Committal Service for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. On Monday, there were more than 900 stewards and 90 ambassadors working on the ground, who were on hand to assist visitors. Councillor Andrew Johnson, council leader of the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead, said, “We are deeply honoured that the Procession and Committal Service for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II took place in our borough at The Long Walk and at Windsor Castle. It was an emotional and historic moment in time, that will last forever in our memories. As a Royal Borough, we are extremely proud of our close connection with the Royal Family and felt privileged to play our part in welcoming the Procession as it made its way to her final resting place at St George’s Chapel“.
It was a lovely tribute from Catherine, as she also wore the same coat at the very first engagement after Prince Philip’s funeral in 2021 when she visited Air Cadets.
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The Coat was described as a, “Dolce & Gabbana black wool and silk-blend double-breasted button-down coat with a collarless design, round neckline, buttonhole on the front, front flap pockets, long sleeves, pleated waist, a mid-calf length and a straight hem.”
Catherine paired the outfit with Gianvito Rossi’s ‘Gianvito 105’ Black pumps
