Queen Elizabeth II sat alone to accompany the funeral of her husband Prince Philip, whom she has been married to for 73 years, due to social detachment rules to contain the pandemic. He was buried this Saturday (17).
The scenes of the Queen, all in black, wearing a hat and mask and lowering her head during the ceremony touched social media users. In the UK, “Queen” was one of the terms that generated the most posts on Twitter during the funeral, with over 180,000 mentions.
Many users said they were sad to see the image and sent messages of support to the Queen. Some of them remembered their families isolated because of the pandemic.
“Seeing the queen so shrunken in the chapel broke my heart. Her posture reminded me of my mother. She passed away at the age of 92 in November. Social distancing funerals are so painful,” said the Vexentrix user.
“Seeing Her Majesty sitting there alone while we heard ‘God Save The Queen’ brought me to tears,” wrote Helen Maidiotis.
“Was there another more heartbreaking image of the queen? The cruel separation and loneliness experienced by so many in this pandemic, which now faces the world’s most famous woman when she said goodbye to her husband for 73 years. Just devastating, “commented British journalist Piers Morgan.
Due to the pandemic, Philip’s family members have sat separated from each other in the chapel. UK rules dictate that people who live in different houses should be kept away from each other indoors. With this, the couples were able to stand side by side, but the now widowed Queen was isolated from loved ones by two chairs away. There were only 30 guests on site, in addition to employees, musicians and religious.
Elizabeth, 94, has already been vaccinated with both doses, but even immune people should continue to be careful and avoid overcrowding. The royal family did not wear masks during the open-air funeral procession, but put them on when entering the chapel.
Prince Philip died on April 9, at the age of 99. The cause of death has not been reported. His funeral was held at Windsor Castle, with military honors. Philip fought in World War II and had been married to Elizabeth since 1947.