Prince George and Princess Charlotte joined senior royals to walk behind the Queen’s coffin as they said goodbye to their “Gan Gan” at her funeral.
George, nine, and Charlotte, seven, were flanked by the Princess of Wales and Duchess of Sussex, in the royal procession at the start of the service to celebrate the life and reign of their great-grandmother.
Their younger brother and the youngest child of Prince William and Kate, Prince Louis, four, did not attend. There had been questions about whether the children would go to the service, considering their young age, but the attendance of the oldest siblings was confirmed in an order of service on Sunday.
Prince George is the second in line to the throne after his father Prince William, while Princess Charlotte is third in line.
Westminster Abbey was filled with a 2,000-strong congregation attending the funeral of the late Queen including more than 100 heads of state and government. Among them is US President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron and New Zealand’s leader Jacinda Ardern. All six of the former prime ministers of the United Kingdom and their spouses are also attending.
Meanwhile, millions of people are expected to watch the funeral on television around the world. Others are lining the streets with City Hall warning that public viewing areas to watch the procession of the Queen’s coffin are now full.
George was dressed in a dark navy suit and tie, while Charlotte wore a black hat with a ribbon tied at the black and coat dress with a small silver horseshoe pinned on the front.
Ahead of the service, the Princess of Wales could be seen holding Charlotte’s hand before the three joined the Prince of Wales to form a row of four to follow the coffin into the abbey.
As the family took their seats, the children could be seen studying their order of service, while George was spotted singing The Day Thou Gavest, Lord.
At one point, Kate could be seen comforting her son with a hand on his knee.
The young prince and princess knew their great-grandmother as “Gan Gan” and are also expected to attend the committal service in St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle after the ceremony in central London.
The state funeral is the first of its kind since that of Winston Churchill in 1965.
Then Princess Elizabeth married Prince Philip at Westminster Abbey in 1947. The couple were married for 73 years until the Prince’s death in 2021.
