Prince William and Kate Middleton were photographed paying their respects to Queen Elizabeth II at her funeral on Sept. 19. The funeral took place 11 days after The Queen died at Balmoral Castle in Scotland. William and Kate entered the funeral separately. While she took two of the pair’s kids, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, inside, William joined his brother, Prince Harry, to march behind The Queen’s coffin as it entered the service. Kate and the kids then linked up with William to walk alongside him once the procession got inside the church. William and Kate looked somber as they mourned his grandmother at the very public event.
The Queen’s Sept. 8 death at the age of 96 put Prince William one step closer to the throne. When The Queen died, her son, and William’s father, King Charles III, officially became King. The 73-year-old will remain on the throne until his death, at which point William, who is next in the line of succession, will take over.
Following Queen Elizabeth II’s death, the members of the Royal Family have been paying their respects at various events in her honor. William and his brother, Harry, have put on a united front after the loss of their grandmother, despite tension between them over the last several years. The family drama began when Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, decided to step down from their senior royal duties and move to America in Jan. 2020.
The couple opened up about their decision in a tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021, where Harry admitted that his leaving had caused a rift in his relationship with Charles and William. However, Harry was with his family members for Prince Philip’s funeral in April 2021, and he and Meghan both spent time with the Royal Family during the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebration in June. They have been focused on repairing their relationships outside of the public eye.