Queen Elizabeth In A Loving Gesture Left Handwritten Note For Prince Philip On His Coffin

Apr 18, 2021

Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth II’s husband of 73 years, has been laid to rest in the Royal Vault at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle on Saturday. The late prince was buried alongside former kings of England and other royals, the Associated Press reports. However, the Royal Vault likely won’t be the Prince’s final resting place.

Images from inside the funeral, where only a select group of 30 people could attend due to coronavirus restrictions, showed Elizabeth sitting alone in the chapel. Given the current restrictions in the U.K., prominent figures like Prime Minister Boris Johnson were not able to attend the service. Similarly, there was no public procession.

The queen is said to be heartbroken after losing her “strength and stay.” The enduring love between Elizabeth and Philip will always be one for the ages. Their love budded when they were very young, and unlike other royal marriages that are often arranged, Elizabeth and Philip married for love. After doing so, they have remained each other's steadfast companions and have supported one another through devastating times. While Elizabeth had the responsibility of becoming a queen thrust upon her early on, Philip had to make compromises and sacrifices to support the new queen. Through his actions and devotion towards his wife, Philip became the perfect example of a royal consort and will remain an inspiration for decades to come.

The monarch bid farewell to her late husband with a handwritten note which she placed on top of the coffin,  She signed the letter with her nickname "Lillibet" - a nickname she was given as a child. The Duke of Edinburgh is thought to be the last person who called her by her childhood nickname. 

“She is saying farewell to someone to whom she was married for 73 years. I think that must be a very, very profound thing in anybody’s life,” Archbishop Justin Welby said in a Friday interview with the BBC.

The letter was a nod to the early days of their romance when they exchanged love letters. According to Reader's Digest, Elizabeth and Philip first met at the wedding of Philip’s cousin in 1934, when she was eight years old and Philip was 13. According to Insider, Elizabeth and Philip were even third cousins, as descendants of Queen Victoria. They met again when she was 13 and Philip was 18, and the young Elizabeth reportedly found him very attractive. During World War II, Philip was deployed overseas, but he and Elizabeth regularly exchanged letters. After he returned to England in 1946, he proposed to Elizabeth and she accepted. 

In a letter, which was among several revealed in Philip Eade's 2011 book Young Prince Philip: His Turbulent Early Life, the Duke wrote to the Queen Mother two weeks after his wedding to Princess Elizabeth in November 1947, Philip expressed his vision for their time together. He said: 'Lilibet is the only thing in this world which is absolutely real to me and my ambition is to wield the two of us into a new combined existence that will not only be able to withstand the shocks directed at us but will also have a positive existence for the good... Cherish Lilibet? I wonder if that word is enough to express what is in me. Does one cherish one's sense of humour or one's musical ear or one's eyes?' 

The Archbishop also asked the public to pray for Elizabeth during "what must be an anguished moment" for the queen. He added that onlookers should refrain from making judgments about what the monarch looks like, for he says she will "behave with the extraordinary dignity, extraordinary courage that she always does.”

The funeral service itself began at 3 p.m. after a national minute of silence. The Dean of Windsor and Archbishop of Canterbury then received the coffin. It is there, in the chapel, where only a select group of royal family members were allowed to attend due to coronavirus regulations.

In light of Philip's death, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced a period of national mourning leading up to the ceremony, according to Sky News.

“I think this funeral is absolutely about the Duke of Edinburgh,” Archbishop Welby said. “And in the hundreds of funerals, which I’ve taken, they have different impacts on people in different ways at the time and later. And this funeral is about looking at the duke’s life, being proud of that life. It’s about the fact that whatever is going on in the family that each one will be feeling a sense of loss.”

Following Philip’s funeral, the Duke of Edinburgh was buried at the Royal Vault of St. George’s Chapel — until the queen’s death. Once the queen has passed on, they will both be buried at King George VI memorial chapel, according to Sky News.

Philip, Elizabeth's husband, died at age 99 on April 9, according to a Buckingham Palace announcement. Having been married to the queen for more than 70 years, he was the longest-serving consort of any British monarch.

In Britain, flags around the country hung at half-mast that day to mourn the royal family’s loss.

“I hope that we will see this moment as something we share in the grief of this very, very hard year we’ve all gone through,” the Archbishop said. “And then we’ll say the best thing we can do is to do what he did in all his life: just get on with it.”

Rest in peace, Prince Philip. How do you think the queen is doing? Let us know — and pass this on to friends and family members.