“Covid stole my father.” Princess Anne’s rare confidences about Prince Philip’s ultimate loneliness

Her speech is very rare in the media, and yet this Tuesday, May 2, Princess Anne gave a television interview to CBS News. The younger sister of Charles III was interviewed by Canadian journalist Adrienne Arsenault on various topics. Among them, the end of the life of his father, Prince Philip.

Elizabeth II’s only daughter specifically confided that the coronavirus pandemic and its resulting confinement had deprived the Duke of Edinburgh of social contact in the twilight of his life. “The virus kind of stole my dad.” And for good reason, as Princess Anne is quoted as saying DailyMail: , his father would not have been able to receive “many people who would go to see him and have conversations with him that would interest him” but for health limitations. Instead, during this time Philip was only allowed forced isolation like the rest of the population. “I’m sure there are many families who can tell you the same thing. loss of connection and ability for older generations; [de parler à ses proches était douloureux]”.

Video shows William and Harry joining Windsor Castle after Prince Philip’s funeral

Princess Anne, 72, then returned to a powerful moment captured at Prince Philip’s funeral. Queen Elizabeth II, all in black (down to the mask), sitting alone in front of her husband’s coffin, her ‘rock’ as she was. called upon him who had supported him for more than seven decades with tireless devotion to the crown. When Adrienne Arsenault asks her if this was also a “theft” to understand the moment stolen by the coronavirus, Anne flatly says: “Yes, you’re absolutely right.”

“Leaving Balmoral has never been easy”

Afterwards, the aunt of Princes William and Harry became very emotional when she recalled the repatriation of her mother’s coffin from Balmoral, Scotland, to Buckingham Palace after her death on September 8. “It was a spectacular sight, but that’s not all. the reaction of the people and how they did it was very exciting,” he recalls. (…) Leaving Balmoral has never been easy, never has been. I was equally unhappy when I had to leave my childhood.”

Finally, at the end of the interview, when asked if she was worried about the future of the British royal family, Princess Anne answered with a decisive “no”. However, he hinted that he doesn’t always understand his older brother’s choices. In this case, he disapproves of Charles III’s desire to tighten the monarchy to a close guard of only a few members. “I think this project of a reduced monarchy was viable when there were a few more people working for the crown. It’s not a very good idea from my position.”

In the video: the love story of Elizabeth II and Prince Philip