What Did the Note on Queen Elizabeth's Coffin From King Charles Say?

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published 19 September 2022

If you were straining your eyes to read what the card atop Queen Elizabeth’s coffin said, The Telegraph has cleared it up—it is a note from her eldest son, King Charles III, which reads “In loving and devoted memory. Charles R.”

R is Latin for “Rex,” or “king.” Charles’ mother frequently signed off correspondence with “Elizabeth R,” with her R being Latin for “Regina,” meaning “queen.”

Charles led the procession into and out of Westminster Abbey this morning for his mother’s funeral, which drew 2,000 world leaders and foreign royals to London to honor her 70 years of service to the Crown and 96 years of life.

Last night, ahead of today’s funeral, Charles released a statement, thanking those who joined his family in mourning the late Sovereign, per PEOPLE.

“Over the last 10 days, my wife and I have been so deeply touched by the many messages of condolence and support we have received from this country and across the world,” he wrote. “In London, Edinburgh, Hillsborough, and Cardiff, we were moved beyond measure by everyone who took the trouble to come and pay their respects to the lifelong service of my dear mother, The late Queen.”

Her Majesty died peacefully at her beloved Balmoral Castle in Scotland on September 8.

“As we all prepare to say our last farewell, I wanted to simply take this opportunity to say thank you to all those countless people who have been such a support and comfort to my family and myself in this time of grief,” the king concluded.

Charles and wife Camilla, Queen Consort, as well as the Prince and Princess of Wales, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, and other members of the royal family have traveled around the U.K. greeting droves of mourners who gathered to honor Her Majesty.

She will be laid to rest later today at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor.

Royal coffins are known for having notes atop them: case in point, for her husband Prince Philip's funeral in April 2021, the Queen herself wrote, lovingly, "Your Loving Lilibet," a nod to her familial nickname that Philip also called her. For Princess Diana's September 1997 funeral, the card atop her coffin read, simply, "Mummy," in the 12-year-old scrawl of Prince Harry.

Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.