As a monarch who reigned for 70 years it’s no surprise that Queen Elizabeth faced plenty of difficult times, though she could never have imagined saying goodbye to the love of her life in the way she did in April 2021. Prince Philip had been her "strength and stay" throughout everything and passed away just a few months before his 100th birthday, during the pandemic.
Government guidelines in place at the time stipulated that funerals should have no more than 30 mourners attending. They also had to be spaced out from anyone not in their household, meaning Queen Elizabeth sat alone in her pew at St George’s Chapel.
Her grandson Peter Phillips explained in the new BBC documentary, Queen Elizabeth II: Her Story, Our Century, that "all you wanted to do was go and give her a hug, and you couldn’t do it".
Peter, the son of Princess Anne, was one of the 30 people at Prince Philip’s funeral and seemed to be speaking for himself and likely the rest of her loved ones too. He’d walked in the procession between Princes William and Harry and it must’ve been incredibly tough seeing his grandmother grieving and knowing he couldn’t get close to her.
The photographs of Queen Elizabeth wearing her face mask, sitting apart from everyone else was described by broadcaster Kirsty Young in the documentary as "one of the most moving and iconic images of her entire reign". Prince Philip’s death was a national moment but it was also a family one and Peter’s comment reminds us of this.
When we stop and think about it, the idea of anyone hugging the Queen seems hard to picture and we’ve never really seen her grandchildren doing this.
They’ve been photographed greeting her with a kiss on the cheek but this is the closest they’ve come to it in public. So even though Peter couldn’t give her a hug at the funeral, it’s a lovely insight into their bond.
He is the eldest of the late Queen’s grandchildren and over the years he’s been widely reported to be her "favourite grandson". Ahead of celebrations for her 90th birthday in 2016, Peter shared that he’d always been "very close" with Queen Elizabeth and they spoke often, calling her an "inspirational person throughout [his life]".
In 2024 he told Sky News Australia how "lucky" he was to be in Scotland before she passed away in 2022 and described how the royals said their goodbyes privately.
"I was lucky to be in Scotland before she passed and actually having those few days with her, just in Scotland, just as a family, before she left Balmoral - that was really nice," he said. "Looking back on it, it's still quite emotional, that part was a proper family moment."
Peter Phillips added, "In many ways we'd had our quiet moment with her, we'd said our goodbyes, so whilst it still wasn't particularly easy, it was easier to be able to share the public's grief for her."
At her funeral Peter once again walked in the procession. As all restrictions had been lifted the year before, this time the Royal Family could come together in public and private as they mourned Queen Elizabeth in a way they hadn’t been able to for Prince Philip.
