The Prince of Wales has released a statement on the death of his grandmother, the late Queen, speaking of her importance to him and the loss he has suffered.
Earlier today, we saw Prince William for the first time since the death of Queen Elizabeth II was announced on Thursday and also since he was made Prince of Wales by his father, The King, yesterday. He joined members of the Privy Council at the Accession Council at St James’s Palace where his father was proclaimed King and made his promise to the Church of Scotland.
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince William during a visit to the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory in Porton Down, near Salisbury
However, the Prince had not released any formal statement until this afternoon. The statement was released on all social media accounts on a black background with his cypher at the very top and, while it drew on her role as Queen, it was quite a personal statement.
The Prince of Wales began the statement touching on the loss the world has suffered, the loss a Monarch whose commitment to ‘the country, the Realms and the Commonwealth was absolute’ and who’s reign he classed as ‘historic’.
The statement took a more personal tone after that, when the Prince reminded us all that, no matter what the world has lost, he has lost a grandmother who he has had in his life for five decades.
He told how the woman he knew as ‘Grannie’ was ‘at my side at my happiest moments. And she was by my side during the saddest days of my life’. One of those days would have been the death of his mother, as he was at Balmoral at the time.
He explained how he knew the day would come, but that it will take time for it to feel real and for him to get used to life without his grandmother. William then went on to thank her for the kindness that she showed himself and his family; ‘my wife has had twenty years of her guidance and support. My three children have got to spend holidays with her and create memories’.
The Queen makes an appearance at the Platinum Pageant on the final day of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations
The Prince ended is statement on a more official note, thanking the ‘extraordinary Queen’ on behalf of his generation for providing and example of service and dignity in public life and said he would honour her memory by supporting his father in every way that he can.
‘Grief is the price we pay for love’ – the now famous line uttered by the Queen herself, was one that the Prince repeated in his statement and one that means more now than it did before.
