Prince Harry and Meghan Markel have covered with the royal family the Queen’s absence from the Platinum Jubilee mass at St. Paul’s Cathedral. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who had not participated in an official ceremony for two years, have been acclaimed by the public at the entrance and have clothed Prince Charles, who has occupied the place initially reserved for Elizabeth II.
The 96-year-old monarch has canceled her attendance after feeling “some discomfort” after the official start of the Jubilee celebrations with her double appearance on the Buckingham balcony before more than 100,000 spectators gathered in the London mall. The Queen has watched the Thanksgiving ceremony from her official residence at Windsor Castle, having participated the night before in the ceremony of 3,000 beacons being lit in her honor to mark the 70th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s reign. she.
The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has also missed the historic appointment in St. Paul after testing positive for Covid, as has Prince Andrew, who has also not been able to accompany his daughters Beatriz and Eugenia. Both Prince Andrew and Harry and Meghan have been the notable absences from the previous day on the Buckingham balcony, by express decision of the Queen herself.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have kept a discreet background during the Trooping the Color parade with which the four days of Jubilee celebrations started. On Friday, however, they posed with full honors before the cameras at their entrance to St. Paul and were cheered on by the crowd, in an apparent sign of reconciliation.
It had been two years since Harry and Meghan had not participated in an official act with the royal family. They did not occupy the first benches, reserved for Carlos, Camila, William and Kate, but they played a relatively prominent role and attracted the attention of the cameras in the absence of the Queen.
The day before, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex presented their daughter Lilibet to the Queen for the first time, who will be one year old on Saturday. The long-awaited meeting took place at Windsor Castle, after the family lunch held at Buckingham Palace.
The Reverend David Ison, Dean of St. Paul, opened the ceremony at the London Cathedral by recalling “the seventy years of dedication and faith” of the monarch and asking for a prayer “for those whose lives have been damaged by the conflict, the suffering and tragedy.
The Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, has highlighted “the constancy and consistency” of the monarch and her ability to “navigate through joy and sorrow”. “I am sorry that Her Majesty cannot be here today, but I know that she is still on board with all of us,” said Cottrell, who winked at the monarch on television.
Two women, the dean of the royal chapels, Sarah Mullally, and the canon Paula Gooder, have extended in their absence the “blessing to our sovereign lady” and have highlighted “the wisdom and sense of fairness” of Elizabeth II.
Five of the 14 prime ministers who have paraded for their 70-year reign attended the historic event in the cathedral. The ‘premier’ Boris Johnson has represented all of them with a reading from the New Testament, Paul’s epistle to the Philippians.
“Finally, brothers, consider well everything that is true, everything that is respectable, everything that is just, everything that is pure, everything that is lovely, everything that is admirable, in short, everything that is excellent or deserves praise. Put into practice what what you have learned, received and heard from me, and what you have seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.
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