Queen Elizabeth II appeared in public Tuesday for her first major in-person gathering since her COVID-19 diagnosis, leading her family, dozens of foreign royals and hundreds of Britain’s great and good in a service of thanksgiving for the life of her late husband, Prince Philip, at Westminster Abbey.
Her presence at the service had been up in the air until the morning of the service. She was spotted in a car, accompanied by her second son, Prince Andrew, Duke of York, being driven from Windsor Castle where she has been living since the start of the pandemic.
After the 1,800 invited guests had been seated, a fanfare sounded and the queen entered, welcomed by the Very Reverend David Hoyle, Dean of Westminster, who conducted the service.
She walked into the ancient abbey through a side door on the arm of Prince Andrew, then separated from him to walk to her seat alone, easing concerns about her health that had raised questions about whether she would attend. It was her first major public event since unspecified mobility issues hampered her ability to walk up and down steps or long distances.
She sat in a throne-like chair at the front of the congregation, flanked by senior members of the royal family and backed up by row after row of more royals and leaders of Britain. The monarch wore a dark green coat with a black color, a matching hat trimmed in black and black gloves.
The queen’s appearance for the ceremony to pay tribute to her husband of 73 years, who died in April 2021, gave Britons some reassurance that their sovereign for the last 70 years had not been entirely discomfited by illness or age. Her ability to get around may be more restricted and she now carries her husband’s walking stick, but she was carrying on.
The service for the late Duke of Edinburgh, who died just short of his 100th birthday, was scheduled because his funeral in 2021 was limited to just 30 people under Britain’s then-stringent pandemic rules.
The funeral was televised, leaving the nation with a poignant image of the queen sitting alone in her pew at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle.
Now that the pandemic has eased in Britain, Philip’s family and the nation wanted to give him a proper sendoff in the 753-year-old royal church where British and English monarchs have been crowned, married, buried and mourned for centuries.
The service incorporated some elements originally planned for the funeral that had to be dropped, including music: The choir, for instance, sang “Te Deum in C” by English composer Benjamin Britten, originally selected by Prince Philip for his funeral service.
“The Queen has also been actively involved in the plans for today’s Service of Thanksgiving, with many elements reflecting Her Majesty’s wishes,” Buckingham Palace said Tuesday in announcing the order of service.
This month, the queen, who turns 96 in April, has missed two major events on the annual royal calendar that she had hoped to attend, including the Commonwealth Day service at the abbey on March 14.
