Funeral of the Queen: Therefore, the place remained for King Charles III. empty

Funeral of the Queen
Therefore, the place remained for King Charles III. empty

20-09-2022, 07:19 hrs

St. George’s Chapel is packed for the Queen’s state funeral. Nevertheless, the place for King Charles III. free. A short term cancellation is not the reason.

Ironically, the place for the grieving King Charles III. remained free at Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral in St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle. However, this had nothing to do with a last-minute cancellation; according to the British tabloid “Express”, there is a royal protocol that leaves nothing to chance.

It was planned from the beginning that the seat for Charles III. and besides his brother Prince Edward remains free. As a gesture to the deceased, for which a place is symbolically reserved, this has nothing to do with it. Instead, there’s a very pragmatic reason behind it: This ensures that the king has a full view of his mother’s coffin and the ceremony taking place at all times.

In fact, this has already been observed in several ceremonies. For example, at the royal weddings of Princess Eugenie to Jack Brooksbank or Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan. At the funeral of Prince Philip, on the other hand, many places remained free for another reason: to comply with the minimum distances applicable at the time due to the corona pandemic.

Last week, TV viewers were already puzzling over the performance of Prince Harry and his wife Meghan at the service in Westminster Hall. As part of the royal family, the couple was the only one to hold hands. On the other hand, neither touched King Charles III. and his wife Queen Camilla, nor his son Prince William and Princess Kate or his brother Prince Edward and Countess Sophie.

This is also mainly due to the protocol: hand in hand is not intended for active members of the royal family. Even Queen Elizabeth II never held her husband Prince Philip’s hand in public in public.