We Might See Prince George at the Queen’s Funeral Tomorrow in a “Powerful and Symbolic” Gesture

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published 18 September 2022

No one is more acutely aware than Prince William of what it feels like to lose a beloved family member as a young boy, with the world watching. William was 15, six years older than nine-year-old Prince George, when he lost his mother, Princess Diana, in 1997, calling walking behind her coffin to Westminster Abbey “one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.”

Neither George nor his younger siblings Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis will be walking behind their great-grandmother’s coffin this week like William and younger brother Prince Harry once did, but The Mirror reports William and wife Kate Middleton are considering bringing George, their eldest and the heir to the throne, to Her Majesty’s funeral tomorrow. Senior advisors are pushing for George, now second in line to the throne, to be there, telling the new Prince and Princess of Wales it will send a “powerful and symbolic” message.

“Aides have told his parents that seeing the young prince attend the funeral of the late monarch—whom he affectionately called ‘Gan Gan’—would be good for the public,” the outlet reports. According to The Daily Mail, one insider says “courtiers are keen for Prince George to be at the funeral in some capacity, if only to reassure the nation of the order of succession.”

Another Palace source says “it’s currently under discussion. No decision has been made yet.”

George had a close relationship with his great-grandmother and, despite the gravity of the loss, Kate told mourners this week that George, Charlotte, and Louis were all coping well with the Queen's death, according to The Sun. She also revealed, per OK, that George “understands the loss of the Queen,” but little brother Louis, only four, doesn’t quite understand what’s happening. We haven’t seen any glimpses of the three Wales kids since the announcement was made on September 8 that Her Majesty had died.

“She [Kate] said they were keeping things as normal as possible for the children,” a mourner says. “She says the children were settling in well to their new school, and Kate was grateful for the support. I joked I had to be quick because I had to do the school run and she said she was heading back to London to do it as well.”

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.