Just ten days after the Queen Mother’s funeral in Westminster Abbey, the royal family once again gathered at the historic religious centre to attend a private memorial in honour of another lost loved one, Princess Margaret, who died last February aged 71. The late Princess had herself planned the programme for the service, which was set around Faure’s Requiem and included readings by her son Viscount Linley and actress Felicity Kendall, and solos by opera stars Dame Felicity Lott and Bryn Terfel.
The Queen, Prince Philip and the Prince of Wales were among the nearly 2,000 strong congregation, which also included Margaret’s daughter Lady Sarah Chatto, Prince Harry and Camilla Parker Bowles, who arrived separately. Prince William, away at university, was unable to attend. Also present were the Princess’ ex-husband Lord Snowdon and her former lover Roddy Llewellyn.
More than 500 members of the public, selected by ballot, joined such luminaries as Prime Minister Tony Blair, former PM Margaret Thatcher, and Dame Judi Dench at the 50-minute-long private service.
Intended by her children to be a celebration of her life, musical tributes were also performed by three choirs and an orchestra. These featured some of Margaret’s favourite pieces by Tchaikovsky and Johann Sebastian Bach.
Princess Margaret died of a stroke on February 9, 2002, and - 50 years to the day from the state funeral of her father King George VI - was laid to rest in a low-key funeral at St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle. In accordance with Margaret’s wishes, her subsequent cremation was held without the pomp and circumstance of a royal funeral, with no member of her family or friends present. Her ashes, also at her request, were placed next to her father’s coffin in the royal crypt of St George’s chapel, where the Queen Mother was also buried after her March 30 death, aged 101.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
