Prince Charles, shaken by grief, made his first statement on Saturday about the loss of “my dear father.”
“I especially wanted to say that my father has spent the last 70 years providing the most remarkable and devoted service to the queen, my family and the country, as well as at home,” said Charles, speaking for the family as the eldest son and heir of to the throne one day after the death of Prince Philip at the age of 99.
“And as you can imagine, my family and I miss my father very much,” Charles added, addressing reporters who had camped in front of his Gloucestershire home.
“He was a much-loved and appreciated figure,” the extemporaneous statement continued, speaking shortly after Buckingham Palace announced that Philip’s funeral would take place next Saturday and be preceded by a national moment of silence.
Prince Harry will fly to the UK to attend the ceremony without his wife, Meghan Markle, who is expecting a baby girl in early summer.
“And, among other things, I can imagine, we are so deeply touched by the number of other people here and everywhere around the world and the community who share our losses and pain,” he said.
“My dear father was a very special person who I think, above all, would have been amazed by the reaction and the emotional things that were said about him,” said Charles.
“And from this point of view, our family, we are deeply grateful for all this. He will support us in this special loss and in this very sad moment “.
When he spoke for the royal family, Charles spared his mother, Queen Elizabeth, by doing so.
The queen is said to be doing well – even “doing it amazingly” – given the loss of her 74-year-old husband, said Sister Sophie, Countess of Wessex.