Queen Elizabeth II left to be“was alone with her thoughts” after Prince Philip’s funeral

19 April 2022

Queen Elizabeth II left to be “alone with her thoughts” after her husband Prince Philip’s funeral.

The Queen needed to be on her own after Prince Philip's funeral

The 95-year-old monarch - who became a widow after the Duke of Edinburgh passed away, aged 99, last year after nearly 74 years of marriage - fell silent and “no words were spoken” immediately after his memorial service in April 2021.

In an new excerpt of her updated memoir ‘The Other Side of the Coin, The Queen, The Dress and The Wardrobe’, - out on 12 May - published in Hello! magazine, Angela Kelly, the Queen’s personal stylist and dressmaker wrote: "I helped her off with her coat and hat and no words were spoken. The Queen then walked to her sitting room, closed the door behind her, and she was alone with her own thoughts.”

The 64-year-old stylist- who has worked with Her Majesty for 28 years - noted that staff of the royal household “stood to attention” as Prince Philip’s coffin was put into his customised Land Rover that he helped design.

She continued: "You could see the expression of sadness on everyone's faces to see such a great and well-respected man making his last journey. Their thoughts, I'm sure, were for The Queen, knowing she had lost a husband and a best friend. The nation shared the grief and their hearts went out to Her Majesty.”

According to the ‘Dressing the Queen’ memorist, many of the Queen’s consort’s pages and valets followed the car to the service as she lamented it “was hard to watch our own friends saying goodbye to their amazing boss”.

She wrote: "We all felt their pain as they had worked with him for so long and we had worked alongside them. It was hard to watch our own friends saying goodbye to their amazing boss, His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh. I'm sure some of the prayers that were offered were by those who had never prayed before. I think those prayers were offered to keep The Queen strong throughout the months to come, when she would be without her husband."

According to HarperCollins, the new edition of Angela’s book - who one of the first staff to be given permission to write about life with the Head of State - will cover how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted life at Windsor Castle and what happened during engagements after the social distancing measures were ease.

Katya Shipster, the editorial director of non fiction at the publishing house said of the book, which was first published in 2019: "There is no better look at what goes on behind the pomp and circumstance than this wonderful book."