Queen Elizabeth has been left “absolutely devastated” by the death of her husband, Prince Philip, according to NBC News royal contributor Camilla Tominey.
The Duke of Edinburgh passed away peacefully at Windsor Castle on Friday morning at the age of 99.
“As you can imagine, the queen has been left absolutely devastated,” Tominey said on TODAY. “Of course, the Duke of Edinburgh did spend a month in hospital prior to his demise, and she would have recognized that perhaps at 99 his days were numbered, but I think there were hopes among the family at least that he would make it to his 100th birthday in June.”
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh attend the Service of Thanksgiving for the life of Lord Mountbatten of Burma at Westminster Abbey on October 27, 1979
Tominey said that the queen’s children, Prince Charles, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward, have all visited their mother at Windsor Castle to comfort her.
Prince Philip’s death comes amid a rift in the royal family following Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey last month.
Tominey said that she expects Harry to attend his grandfather’s funeral alone. “My expectations [are] that Prince Harry will attend alone,” she said. “We understand that he may even be making the journey as we speak this weekend, expecting to be reunited with his family. Of course, he loved his grandfather. He wants to be there for his grandmother.”
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, attends the annual Anzac Day Dawn Service at Wellington Arch on April 25, 2015 in London, England
“I think it’s going to be difficult for Meghan to attend because she is quite heavily pregnant now and equally the couple will be keen to avoid a distraction. This week should be about the family mourning, but most importantly, of course, it should be about the queen in her hour of need.”
Tominey said that people across the United Kingdom have been surprised by their own grief over Prince Philip’s death.
“I think actually, people have been taken quite surprised by their own emotions,” she said. “On one hand, you have a man who has had, as we would say in Britain, a good innings. He’s lived to 99 and had a remarkable and extraordinary life. But I think for people of my generation, you know, actually, Prince Philip represents somebody of the wartime era, perhaps somebody like our own grandfathers, who has that connection with a different bygone era.”
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, gives a salute on his last solo public engagement at Buckingham Palace, on August 2, 2017 in London, England
“I think there are people out, behind me, paying their respects at Buckingham Palace and over at Windsor Castle, simply because he was this grand fashion.”
Tominey said that the queen, who is 95, will be deeply affected by the loss of her husband of 73 years.
“Both of these people have been a figure of British and global lives now for more than seven decades, and the notion now of the queen having to carry on at 95 without her stalwart support by her side, I think has really deeply affected people not just in Britain but around the world,” she said.
The queen is currently observing a period of mourning and has postponed all public engagements.
