Prince Louis was too young to go along to the Queen’s funeral, but he did attend his grandad’s coronation in May (Picture: Reuters)
It’s easy to look back on the death of the Queen a year ago today and think of it solely as a moment in history, when the country mourned a figurehead.
But it was also a deeply sad time on a personal level for the royal family, who lost their matriarch: a mother, grandmother and great-grandmother.
Amid all the many public tributes to a remarkable woman, it was a private remark by one of the family’s youngest members which summed up the feelings behind closed doors.
The Princess of Wales told the story to members of the public as she met them gathered outside Windsor Castle last year, in the days following the Queen’s death.
She said her youngest son, Prince Louis, had reacted to the news by saying: ‘At least granny is with great grandpa now.’
Well-wishers who overheard the story said Kate was quite emotional, and welled up as she recounted the conversation.
Although he was only four years old when she died, the Queen shared several memorable moments with her sixth great-grandchild.
Aged 92, she flew in a helicopter between Windsor Castle and Kensington Palace to meet Louis for the first time eight days after he was born.
William, then the Duke of Cambridge, reportedly made sure she was one of the first people to know his third child had been delivered safely on St George’s Day 2018.
The Queen and Louis were pictured enjoying each other’s company at events including last year’s Platinum Jubilee (Picture: Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images)
And it was at the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations last year that the young prince first made a big impression with the public, as he pulled faces and covered his ears on the Buckingham Palace balcony.
Prince Louis did not attend the monarch’s state funeral last September, likely because he was still too young to sit through such a long and solemn event.
But David Hurley, Australia’s Governor-General, revealed the loss was still playing on the Louis’ mind a week or so after it happened as he recalled a conversation with Kate the weekend before the funeral.
He said: ‘The younger one is now asking questions like, “do you think we can still play these games when we go to Balmoral” and things like that, because she’s not going to be there?’
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The four-year-old’s remark reflected the fact it was a family loss, and not just a national one.