© 2020 – 2024 AEA3 WEB | AEAƎ United Kingdom News
AEA3 WEB | AEAƎ United Kingdom News
Image default
News

Members of the royal family inspect floral tributes at Balmoral

Queen’s family applauded after stopping to talk to well-wishers on way from private service at Crathie Kirk

  • Charles proclaimed King – latest updates

Members of the royal family were given spontaneous applause at the
gate to Balmoral Castle after stopping to talk to well-wishers and
inspect the deep mound of flowers lying at the wall.

Prince Andrew, his daughters Eugenie and Beatrice, Prince Edward and
Sophie, and Princess Anne had driven to Crathie Kirk, the church close
to Balmoral where the Queen and her family worshipped every Sunday
during her holidays on Deeside, for a brief, private service shortly
before 2pm on Saturday.

As they returned to Balmoral, their convoy stopped at the narrow
granite bridge over the River Dee to allow the family to greet about 150 well-wishers, who had been waiting patiently for up to 45 minutes behind a crowd barrier.

Before walking back into the estate, Sophie was seen dabbing at tears
as she read some of the inscriptions on the bouquets; flanked by his
daughters and siblings at the black- and gold-painted gates, Andrew
held up his hands together in a prayer of thanks, provoking a burst of
applause from the crowd.

Dressed in a black mourning suit, Andrew was the most talkative,
asking visitors where they had come from. He spoke to Jackie McIntosh,
69, an airport worker from Aberdeen. “It’s very sad, it is, to see him
because they’re a family at the end of the day, who’ve lost their
mum,” she told reporters after their brief exchange.

John Coutts, her partner, 49, added: “It’s only been a couple of days
since they lost their mother, like the rest of us they are human, no
one expected this. It was decent of them to speak with us.”

Elaine Rose, from Nuneaton, who has been on holiday in Inverness with
family, said she had been at the Braemar Highland gathering last
Sunday – an event normally attended by the Queen. Instead, she saw the
then Prince Charles and Camilla, and Princess Anne.

Andrew briefly spoke to her and her family: “Thank you very much for
coming,” he said.

Another well-wisher, Sue, had travelled to Balmoral en route from a
holiday at Gairloch near Ullapool and told Prince Andrew she was on
her way home to Durham. He expressed surprise at the distance she had
travelled and thanked her for coming.

She was reluctant to speak to Prince Andrew, she said. “I really
didn’t want to. I felt I couldn’t not because other people started to
move away from him, so I needed to say something. But I didn’t feel
comfortable.”

Tom Harrison, 62, from Forres, Moray, spoke to Prince Andrew and
Princess Anne. He asked Andrew: “How’s things?” Andrew replied: “We’ve been allowed one day as a family. Tomorrow we start the process of handing her on.”

Princess Anne noticed his bright flowers and asked: “Are they from
your garden?” Harrison said they were not. “I told her I’d not picked them myself,” he said afterwards. “I wish I’d lied and said they were from my garden.” Harrison added: “They were very sombre. They’ve lost their mum and their grandmother. It’s a family bereavement.”

Jefferson Campbell, 46, was at Balmoral with wife, Solange, 47, and
daughter, Giovanna, 14, and had travelled from Westhill, Aberdeenshire,
where Prince Edward remarked on the Brazil football shirt Campbell was
wearing. “I didn’t think they would come walking here. We didn’t
expect this moment,” Campbell said. Solange, a school teacher, said:
“It is a sad moment for them but they always talk to the people.”

Continue reading…

Related posts

‘I’m overjoyed’: Canadian Michael Spavor speaks out after China release

AEA3

Child vaping risks becoming ‘public health catastrophe’ in UK, experts warn

AEA3

Matt Hancock says leaking of WhatsApp messages a ‘massive betrayal’ as he apologises to colleagues – UK politics live

AEA3