The Simple Thing Kate Middleton's Children Asked About Before The Queen's Funeral
On September 8, the world reacted with shock and sadness upon the tragic death of Queen Elizabeth II, who died peacefully in her Balmoral home at the age of 96. As expected, preparations soon began for a grand state funeral, which took place in London's Westminster Abbey on September 19.
As expected, the funeral for the late queen, who was the longest-reigning monarch in the country's history, drew in millions of spectators, both in person, as well as on television. Unsurprisingly, the state funeral ended up becoming one of the country's most-watched broadcasts in its history, drawing in around 28 million viewers, surpassing the 2011 wedding of Elizabeth's beloved grandson, Prince William, and Kate Middleton — now the Prince and Princess of Wales — which drew in around 26 million viewers at the time.
Of course, alongside the likes of the new King Charles III and his wife Camilla, the new queen consort, among the most prominent individuals at the funeral was Prince William, now the heir to the throne, his wife Catherine, as well as their children, Prince George of Wales and his sister, Princess Charlotte of Wales (their youngest child, Prince Louis, did not attend). Naturally, given their youth (George is only 9, while Charlotte is 7 and Louis is just 4), the Prince of Wales' children became quite curious about the fanfare in London, which took place amidst the funeral and this became no clearer than when Kate revealed a simple question they had for her.
Prince William's children were curious about the security drones
In light of the high-profile status of Queen Elizabeth II's funeral, and the sheer number of noteworthy political, royal, and otherwise prominent individuals who were there, the city of London implemented some very high-tech security features in order to ensure the safety of all those in attendance.
As The Telegraph reported, the Civil Aviation Authority enacted a "no-fly zone" over central London during the funeral for security reasons. In fact, some members of the public even got in trouble after flying small, remote-controlled drones for personal purposes, unaware that this was strongly prohibited. Eleven such individuals in particular were "spoken to," the Metropolitan Police said, as they were "not aware and not considering really what they should be doing."
According to Hello!, Kate Middleton mentioned that her three children were curious about the security drones, even going "beady-eyed" over them. They even asked their parents questions about them. Kate also mentioned how the entire family had been impressed by the preparations made by Buckingham Palace and the City of London for the queen's funeral, as they had been witness to it in the week prior while going about their daily routines. "When we've been doing the school run, we've been able to see the preparations going up," Kate said. "We've seen it growing." She added, "It must have been quite a mission. Having gone backwards and forwards last week, we could see it slowly growing. It seemed so well organized."
Prince George has entered a new stage of life
While the death of Queen Elizabeth II precipitated great sadness and mourning across the country and the world, it's important to remember that she was first and foremost the matriarch of her family, and with her death comes a moment of change and period of transition for her descendants. Although, when he was 6, The Sun reported that Prince George was more shy and introverted, an insider close to the royal family told Us Weekly earlier in 2022 that his "confidence has grown leaps and bounds" over the last few years, and that he is "assertive, self-assured and knows what he wants." The source added that the young prince "has what it takes to be the future King." Indeed, the death of the queen means that Prince George is now only second in line to the throne.
Of course, Prince George and his great-grandmother were quite close, which will surely mean he will need some time to mourn before moving on. The Daily Mail reported in 2019 that he had a special nickname for his great-grandmother — "Gan Gan" — and apparently Elizabeth even went out of her way to spend time with him while she could. And, although Prince Louis may be too young to understand the gravity of the moment, the 7-year-old Princess Charlotte has clearly been mourning along with the rest of the world and her family, even prompting her older brother to bow in respect to the late queen during the funeral.