Britain has fallen silent for a moment of reflection on the eve of the Queen’s funeral, as royal relatives – including Prince Andrew and Camilla, the new Queen Consort – issued statements of rememberance.
On the eve of the state service for the monarch, the Duke of York has broken his silence to remember his “mummy, mother, Your Majesty”.
He paid tribute to his mother, Elizabeth, saying: “Mummy, your love for a son, your compassion, your care, your confidence I will treasure forever”.
Andrew hailed the late monarch for her “knowledge and wisdom infinite, with no boundary or containment”, adding: “I will miss your insights, advice and humour”.
He accompanied his words with a black and white photo taken by society photographer Cecil Beaton of his mother holding him as a newborn in March 1960.
Andrew, who stepped down from public life over his friendship with paedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein in 2019, said “As our book of experiences closes, another opens”, adding and that he would “tread gladly into the next with you as my guide”.
The Queen’s disgraced second son went on to pay millions of pounds to settle a civil sexual assault case to a woman he claimed never to have met.
Australian-based Virginia Giuffre sued him for allegedly sexually assaulting her when she was 17 after she was trafficked by Epstein.
The duke denied the claims.
In January, ahead of his legal settlement, the Queen stripped the duke of all of his honorary military roles, including Colonel of the Grenadier Guards, and he gave up his HRH style.
But since his mother’s death, Andrew has been publicly involved in family events – and he has worn military uniform at mourning services even while his nephew Prince Harry, an Afghanistan veteran, was reportedly told not to wear a uniform.
The royal family’s offical Twitter account did not share Andrew’s statement.
Tweet from @RoyalFamily
On Sunday night (local time), the account featured comments from the Queen Consort, who shared a personal memory of the Queen.
Camilla, the King’s wife, remembered how her mother-in-law had seen the funny side of a shoe mishap.
In a televised tribute to the late monarch, Camilla described the Queen’s “wonderful blue eyes” but also how her gaze could be a little withering if you “dare question” her equestrian knowledge.
Tweet from @RoyalFamily
The Queen Consort, who knew the monarch for decades, said the Queen had a clear demarcation between her public duties and private life and her summer breaks at Balmoral in Scotland were a moment for “her enjoyment”.
Her tribute aired shortly before the national minute’s silence at 8pm local time.
Speaking about her wedding day on April 9 2005, the Queen Consort said: “I remember coming from here, Clarence House, [to] go to Windsor the day I got married when I probably wasn’t firing on all cylinders, quite nervous and, for some unknown reason, I put on a pair of shoes and one had an inch (2.5-centimetre) heel and one had a two-inch (five-centimetre) heel.
“I mean talk about hop-a-long and there’s nothing I could do.
“I was halfway down in the car before I realised and you know, she – she could see and laughed about it and said, ‘look I’m terribly sorry’ and she did, you know, she had a good sense of humour.”
The late monarch was never happier than when visiting her thoroughbreds at the royal stud or watching them race and Camilla commented on her “passion for racing”.
The Queen Consort said: “She was able to escape to Sandringham. She had the stud next door. She could go every day, see her foals, work out you know, the next meetings for the year. I think she always kept that as you know, her, her private bit.
“You wouldn’t dare question her or argue with her on how horse are bred or how it ran because you’d get a very steely blue-eyed look back again.”
Camilla said: “She made a rule that she had her private time and her private passions and then her public role and I think that is very important that, you know, the diary is planned out so you know when you’re on duty.
“Then when she went up to Scotland in August, you know that was the moment where it was her enjoyment.
“Although she was probably working, you know with her red boxes throughout, she could have her family to stay, she could do the things she loved.”
Camilla, in pre-recorded words, also spoke about the Queen’s “unforgettable” smile.
“She’s got those wonderful blue eyes that when she smiles, you know, they light up her whole face. I’ll always remember that smile, you know, that smile is unforgettable,” she said.
-with AAP
