Heartbroken Queen wipes tears as she sits alone at Prince Philip’s funeral

Photographs of the grieving Queen sitting alone at her husband's funeral at Windsor Castle today have shattered the hearts of many in Britain, as she was compelled to mourn apart from her bereaved children and grandchildren during the Covid-secure service.

The Queen led the country and her family in mourning the longest serving consort in royal history, the man she described as her “strength and stay” over 73 years of marriage, stooping but firm and displaying the fortitude she has shown for the past eight days. In the midst of the ­coronavirus pandemic, television audiences were treated to a one-of-a-kind funeral service.

The Queen was accompanied by other members of the royal family today to mourn the death of her husband, Prince Philip, and a body language specialist said she “couldn't face going in alone.”

Her Majesty, 94, brushed away tears and lowered her head in reverence as she accompanied her beloved husband's coffin for its last trip, while their eldest son, Prince Charles, wept as he stepped behind the coffin into church, joined by other bereaved royals.

The sparse congregation of 30 within the 15th century Gothic chapel, decreased from an initial planned guest list of between 800 and 1,000 due to the Government's Covid limits, added to the poignancy of the occasion.

The Queen, wearing a face mask like all the mourners, whilst a chorus of three male lay clerks and a female soprano sang the eerie music the Duke had chosen owing to laws prohibiting the congregation from singing.

“We have been inspired by his unwavering loyalty to our Queen, by his service to the Nation and the Commonwealth, by his courage, fortitude and faith,” said Dean of Windsor David Conner.

Philip, who married Elizabeth in 1947, assisted the young monarch in adapting the kingdom to the evolving circumstances of the post-World War II period, when the fall of empire and the decline in deference posed a threat to the world's most powerful royal family.

Tobias Ellwood, a Tory MP, and MailOnline columnists Piers Morgan and Dan Wootton, as well as GMB presenters Kate Garraway and Susanna Reid, led the country in showing their support for the monarch, with social network users describing the scenes as “heartbreaking,” “cruel,” and “shameful.”

‘No words,' Ellwood tweeted, while Morgan wrote, ‘Has there ever been a more heart-breaking picture of The Queen? The cruel separation and loneliness suffered by so many in this pandemic, now endured by the world's most famous woman as she says goodbye to her husband of 73 years. Just devastating .'

‘So alone – my heart breaks for her and so so many others who have lost loved ones this year,' Garraway said on Instagram, referring to her husband Derek Draper's illness after he caught the virus last year. ‘Just shows who ever you are the pain of grief and the loneliness it brings .'

The queen, who will turn 95 on Wednesday, sat alone in the second row, closest to the altar and her husband's coffin, since she had no mourners in her bubble.

Lady Susan Hussey, the Queen's lady-in-waiting, had joined her to the chapel and waited with her in the state Bentley for the procession. The Queen wore her grandmother Queen Mary's large Richmond diamond-and-pearl brooch, which she inherited.

A minute gun fired eight times as her husband's coffin was carried to the chapel on a bespoke Land Rover Defender TD 130 in military green that Philip helped build.

Philip's children and grandchildren trailed behind on foot, evoking thoughts of William and Harry, respectively 15 and 12, walking behind their mother's coffin at Diana's funeral in 1997.

During her late husband's funeral, Queen Elizabeth had to remain alone, but she held him with her in spirit throughout the painful service.

As she sat in St George's Chapel, she kept some mementos of her 73-year-old husband near to her heart, according to a Royal insider.

She was rumored to be carrying one of Philip's white pocket squares in her handbag, as well as a tiny picture of the two of them taken in Malta.

The island has a special position in the couple's hearts since they resided in Villa Guardamangia, on the outskirts of Valletta's capital, from 1949 to 1951, when Philip was serving there as a naval officer with HMS Magpie at the start of their marriage.

The Queen left a handwritten note, which she placed alongside Philip's wreath of white lilies, small white roses, and white freesia that she picked.