The Royal Representative

Archive for the ‘Funerals’ Category

Nice Work!
Relations between Sarah Ferguson and the Royal Family have thawed so much that she has enjoyed a week’s holiday at Balmoral. Sarah was even asked to stay on longer than planned. Good on you, Fergie!

Who Spilled?
The Duke of Edinburgh has drawn up “secret plans” (Daily Mail’s words) for a private funeral at St George’s Chapel, Windsor, and has declined the offer of a State service. A unique feature of Prince Philip’s service – codenamed ‘Forth Bridge’ by Palace officials – is that the Duke, the oldest serving Royal consort in British history, has requested his coffin be borne by the same gun carriage used to carry Victoria at her funeral in 1901.

If it’s code-named and referred to as secret, then why is it in a newspaper?? I’ve never understood why the media does that. Also, I don’t want to think of Philip dying yet. It’s depressing!

Her Majesty has bid a sad farewell to her aunt Princess Alice, who died last week at the age of 102. She was joined by her husband and children for the private funeral ceremony in Windsor Castle’s St George Chapel.

The Queen, dressed in black, stood alongside Prince Philip, Prince Charles, and the Earl and Countess Wessex at the service. The Princess Royal and Princess Alexandra were also there to offer their support to Alice’s son Richard, the Duke of Gloucester. His mother’s coffin, draped in a royal standard and white roses, was borne from the chapel by members of the King’s Own Scottish Borderers, the regiment of which Alice was Colonel-in-Chief.

The Prince of Wales left a floral tribute with a note reading: “Dearest Aunt Alice, with fondest and affectionate memories, Charles, William, and Harry.” A wreath of roses and freesias laid by the Queen, meanwhile, carried the message: “In loving memory - Lilibet and Philip”.

Alice was the oldest member of the Royal Family in history, but she had not been seen in public for several years. Her life had been marked by tragedy, as she lost her eldest son, William, in a plane crash in 1972. Two years later her husband also passed away, after suffering a series of strokes. The Princess, who had a passion for travel and spent time in India, Kenya and Afghanistan, died in her sleep on October 29.

Here is a list of the foreign dignitaries who attended President Ronald Reagan’s funeral on Friday:

Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher

Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder

British Prime Minister Tony Blair

HRH Prince Charles, The Prince of Wales

Irish President Mary McAleese

South African President Thabo Mbeki

Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo

Romanian President Ion Iliescu

Acting Lithuanian President Arturas Paulauskas

Former Finnish President Mauno Koivisto

Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Angelo Sodano

Canadian Governor General Adrienne Clarkson

Former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney

Australian Governor General Maj. Gen. Michael Jeffrey

Former Polish President Lech Walesa

Former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone

Slovakian President Rudolf Schuster

Grenadan Governor General Sir Daniel Williams

Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai

Former Danish Prime Minister Poul Schlueter

Swedish Deputy Prime Minister Lars Engqvist

Indian External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh