Prince William's Kids Are Upset Over Their Great-Grandpa Prince Philip's Death

Apr 14, 2021

On Friday, April 9, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh passed away at the age of 99 years old. Not long before his death, the Queen's beloved husband was discharged from the hospital after spending several days there due to complications with an infection. Prince Philip's infection was reportedly not due to coronavirus, as he and the Queen were vaccinated in January of this year, according to BBC. Philip's passing ends his reign as the longest-serving royal spouse, having served alongside Queen Elizabeth II for 65 years and having been married to the monarch for 73 years in total.

Now that Prince Philip has passed, the Royal Family will be arranging a funeral. One could imagine that is normally a large event with many attendees, but coronavirus only complicates the funeral planning further and limits the number of guests able to attend. 

The Duke of Cambridge, Prince William, and the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, are naturally in consideration for making the guest list at the funeral. Having been married for nearly ten years this month, the Duke and Duchess are a popular pair among royal fans and are often spotted with the Queen herself. Prince William is attending for sure, and it is likely but not yet confirmed that Kate Middleton will be in attendance along with her husband. However, their children — George, Charlotte and Louis — will likely not get a spot due to their age, and the limited number of people allowed to attend Prince Philip's funeral. However, according to a statement written by Prince William, George, Charlotte and Louis are very upset over their great-grandpa's, Prince Philip's, passing.

Read on to learn more about how Prince William broke the news to his kids, and how Prince Philip's great-grandchildren are reacting. 

Prince Philip was born June 10, 1921, in Mon Repos, Corfu, Greece. In fact, Prince Philip was born as a royal, originally inheriting the title of the prince of Greece and Denmark. However, Biography.com reports that his family was exiled from Greece when he was only an infant, which led to a lot of turbulence in his early life. He was then reared mainly in Great Britain, being educated at Gordonstoun School in Scotland, which was followed by his attendance of the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth, England. He met his future wife, Elizabeth, for the first time in 1934, when both families attended the marriage of his cousin to Elizabeth's uncle and met once again when Elizabeth's father, George VI, was crowned.

Before Prince Philip got married to Queen Elizabeth, he was required to give up his titles and succession to the throne in Greece. He did so willingly and took on his mother's surname Mountbatten. According to Britannica, Prince Philip served with the Royal Navy during World War II. Prince Philip continued active service in the Royal Navy until Elizabeth's accession to the throne on February 6th, 1952. Until the conclusion of his service, he commanded the frigate Magpie. The Duke of Edinburgh was an active and dedicated member of the Royal family ever since Queen Elizabeth's crowning.   

On Friday, April 9, 2021, Prince Philip passed away in Windsor Castle. The exact cause of death has not been released publically, but in an official statement, the palace said that he went peacefully. His death set off Operation Forth Bridge, which is the plan for publically announcing his death and the ensuing funeral arrangements.

As Prince Philip was not a monarch, he won't be given a state funeral but a royal ceremonial funeral instead. Due to the current pandemic restrictions, the funeral will be very small — only 30 people will be allowed to attend. This means that each person attending will have to be carefully considered and with that news, it appears that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis, won't be attending in order to make room for other adults.

Taking place on Saturday, April 17 at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, it's believed the Cambridge children are too young to take part in the procession. Majesty magazine managing editor Joe Little further added, as reported by Mirror, “Even in normal times, the Cambridge children would probably have been deemed too young to attend."

According to US Weekly, Prince William broke the news to George, Charlotte and Louis by telling them that Prince Philip has 'gone to heaven' and 'is an angel now.' According to a source that spoke exclusively to US Weekly, "George, Charlotte and Louis helped William choose a photograph of Prince Philip to hang in their home in memory of him." Despite the heartbreaking news, it seems that Prince William and Kate Middleton are taking the right steps when it comes to how they have approached their children with the loss. On the Kensington Royal Instagram, the Duke of Cambridge posted a photo shot by the Duchess, and accompanied it with some sweet words remembering Prince Philip. It read: 

"... I will never take for granted the special memories my children will always have of their great-grandpa coming to collect them in his carriage and seeing for themselves his infectious sense of adventure as well as his mischievous sense of humour..."

Our hearts go out to George, Charlotte, Louis and the entire royal family. What do you think about how Prince William decided to tell the kids the news? Let us know your thoughts and be sure to pass this on to others who are following Prince Philip's funeral proceedings.