Royals
The Royal Family Shared An Unseen Photo Of The Queen Doing What She Loved Most
The candid photo was posted after the state funeral.
Following over a week of national mourning and a grand state funeral watched by billions worldwide, Queen Elizabeth II was laid to rest in a private ceremony. Members of the royal family said goodbye to the late monarch as she was buried alongside her late husband, Prince Philip, in the King George VI Memorial Chapel inside St George’s Chapel in Windsor. In a service conducted by the Dean of Windsor, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh were laid to rest beside Her Majesty’s mother, father, and sister, per the BBC. Paying tribute to the Queen one last time, the royal family shared another unseen photograph late in the evening of Sept. 19.
Taken by the Queen’s cousin, Patrick Lichfield, in 1971, the wide portrait shot shows the Queen walking through heathlands on the Balmoral Estate, wearing her signature headscarf in a pair of sunglasses, while holding a hiking stick with a raincoat on her arm. The Shakespearean line “May flights of Angels sing thee to thy rest” accompanied the photo, one that King Charles III spoke during his first address following his mother’s passing. This follows the release of Her Majesty’s last official portrait ahead of her funeral on Monday.
The Prince and Princess of Wales also paid tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth, sharing a black and white photo of her coffin being carried into Westminster Abbey. “Goodbye to a Queen, a mother, and grandmother and a great grandmother,” they wrote.
As the 10-day mourning period for the UK has drawn to a close, the royal family will observe another week of mourning “until seven days after the Queen’s funeral,” as Buckingham Palace said in a statement following Her Majesty’s passing on Sept. 8, per The Telegraph. “Royal mourning will be observed by members of the royal family, Royal Household staff and representatives of the Royal Household on official duties, together with troops committed to ceremonial duties.
The Telegraph reports that this private mourning period means that working royals are not expected to carry out royal duties. Flags flying at royal residences across the UK will remain at half-mast until 8 a.m. on the final day of royal mourning.
