“But a chance photograph of the monarch dabbing her eye earlier in the day may have captured her only outward show of grief.”
The following written content by Laura Italiano
Queen Elizabeth kept her stoic composure throughout her husband’s funeral service on Saturday, alone and poignantly small under the echoing stones of St. George’s Chapel.
Solitary in her pew due to strict social distancing, she lowered her head to mourn her beloved consort of 73 years, as widows of any rank and fortune might.
But a chance photograph of the monarch dabbing her eye earlier in the day may have captured her only outward show of grief.
Elizabeth, 94, who’s rarely seen weeping in public, was snapped touching her black-gloved hands to her eyes and adjusting her mask as she sat in the back of her black Bentley and followed the funeral procession.
“The Queen wipes away a tear as she says goodbye to her husband of 73 years,” the Royal Central captioned the photo.
“Did Queen Elizabeth cry at Prince Philip’s funeral?” USA Today wondered in a headline.
“Unable to hold back her grief,” the UK’s more unbridled Express insisted of her majesty.
Whether it was a tear or not may never be known. The queen was clearly grim but in control of herself by the time she had arrived at the church, and throughout the somber service that followed.
Maybe the most knowable poignancy in her brief ride from Windsor Castle to St. George’s Chapel was her Bentley’s position in the procession.
Throughout their marriage, Philip had followed behind the queen during any public procession, in accordance with royal protocol. Read more from Page Six.
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