At the Queen’s coffin
King Charles III and his siblings keep vigil
King Charles III at the wake. Princess Anne can be seen on the left, Prince Edward on the right. Prince Andrew was at the back.
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King Charles III has had a difficult 15 minutes. Together with his siblings he kept the wake at the Queen’s coffin.
Together in uniform, including the controversial Prince Andrew (62): King Charles III. (73) joined his three siblings at the wake for their late mother Queen Elizabeth II (1926-2022) in Westminster Hall. Princess Anne (72), Prince Edward (58), scandal Prince Andrew and the king positioned themselves with their backs to the coffin, each of them standing on one of the four sides with their heads bowed.
They paused in this pose for 15 minutes to watch over their mother one last time. If you were lucky, you could attend this symbolic ceremony on site – but chance played a major role here: some people are said to have queued for up to 14 hours to even arrive at the Queen’s coffin. Only a handful of them consequently saw the wake of His Majesty and his three siblings.
On Saturday it’s William and Harry’s turn
The fact that Prince Andrew was allowed to do this in his military uniform was determined by the king himself and should be understood as a one-time exception to duly honor the queen. The same applies to Prince Harry (38), who is known to have resigned from his royal duties. He will be next to Prince William (40) for a quarter of an hour on Saturday (September 17) to take over the wake at the coffin of their grandmother – and like his big brother, he can do this in uniform.