London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Oct 14, 2025

William and Harry lead historic coffin vigil

William and Harry lead historic coffin vigil

The Queen's eight grandchildren, including the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Sussex, have stood vigil around her coffin as she lies in state at Westminster Hall.

At King Charles's request, Prince Harry wore military uniform, for the first time since 2020.

Prince Harry has worn civilian clothes at public events since the Queen died.

It is the first time in history that the grandchildren of a monarch have taken part in the ceremony.

The King's sons William and Harry were joined by Peter Phillips and Zara Tindall, the children of Princess Anne, as well as Prince Andrew's daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, and Lady Louise Windsor and James, Viscount Severn, who are Prince Edward's children.

At 44, Peter Philips is the oldest of the Queen's grandchildren, while the youngest, James, Viscount Severn, is 14.

In silence and with their heads bowed, the eight cousins stood at different points around the coffin as crowds continued to file past.

Prince William stood at the head of the Queen's coffin with his brother at the opposite end.

The Earl and Countess of Wessex, the parents of Louise and James, looked on from a platform facing the coffin.

Prince Harry wore a Blues and Royals uniform


The grandchildren's vigil started at 18:01 BST and lasted for just under 15 minutes.

On Friday evening, the Queen's children, including the King, took part in a similar vigil, standing guard for about 10 minutes.

Ahead of the vigil, Beatrice and Eugenie paid tribute to their "dear Grannie", saying: "It has been the honour of our lives to have been your granddaughters and we're so very proud of you."

In a joint statement, they said the Queen was "our matriarch, our guide, our loving hand on our backs leading us through this world" and that they already miss her "terribly".

They went on: "Thank you for making us laugh, for including us, for picking heather and raspberries, for marching soldiers, for our teas, for comfort, for joy.

"You, being you, will never know the impact you have had on our family and so many people around the world.

"The world mourns you and the tributes would really make you smile. They are all too true of the remarkable leader you are."

The pair told the Queen they were "so happy you're back with Grandpa" and added that "our dear Uncle Charles, the King, will continue to lead in your example as he too has dedicated his life to service".

The vigil on Saturday was the first time Prince Harry had been seen in military uniform since stepping back as a working royal in 2020.

He served two tours in Afghanistan as part of the Army. He now lives in California with his wife Meghan and their two children.

The Duke of Sussex was wearing the Blues and Royals No 1 uniform, the same uniform as his brother.

Prince William has completed more than seven years of full-time military service, including three-and-a-half years as a search and rescue pilot.

Prince Harry stood at the opposite end of the coffin to his brother, the Prince of Wales


Prince Andrew was also allowed to wear his military uniform as he stood guard on Friday. The 62-year-old stepped down as a working royal in 2019, after facing questions over his relationship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The prince was later stripped of his military titles.

Earlier on Saturday, Prince William and his father King Charles went to Lambeth, south London to shake hands and greet people queuing to view the Queen lying in state.

The Earl and Countess of Wessex conducted their own walkabout outside Buckingham Palace.

The Queen will lie in state at Westminster Hall until her funeral on Monday.

The queue to see the coffin stretches as far as Southwark Park and has previously seen wait times of over 24 hours. Officials have warned that the queue will be closed before 06:30 BST on Monday, so that people do not join the line and fail to reach Westminster Hall in time.

On Saturday afternoon, organisers announced that the accessible queue has reached full capacity, with all time slots now allocated.


Watch: The Queen's grandchildren take part in the historic vigil


Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
EU Deploys New Biometric Entry/Exit System: What Non-EU Travelers Must Know
Australian Prime Minister’s Private Number Exposed Through AI Contact Scraper
Ex-Microsoft Engineer Confirms Famous Windows XP Key Was Leaked Corporate License, Not a Hack
China’s lesson for the US: it takes more than chips to win the AI race
Australia Faces Demographic Risk as Fertility Falls to Record Low
California County Reinstates Mask Mandate in Health Facilities as Respiratory Illness Risk Rises
Israel and Hamas Agree to First Phase of Trump-Brokered Gaza Truce, Hostages to Be Freed
French Political Turmoil Elevates Marine Le Pen as Rassemblement National Poised for Power
China Unveils Sweeping Rare Earth Export Controls to Shield ‘National Security’
The Davos Set in Decline: Why the World Economic Forum’s Power Must Be Challenged
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
×