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Queen Elizabeth had a particular connection to Windsor, the place her committal service was held at St. George’s Chapel following her state funeral on Monday.
Samantha Cohen, the Queen’s former assistant personal secretary, tells PEOPLE that “Windsor was her dwelling and he or she cherished being there.”
“She died in her favourite place and was laid to relaxation in her favourite place alongside her husband and different members of her household,” Cohen shares.
Cohen, who was in attendance on the committal service, says it was “very odd” to be on the chapel with out Queen Elizabeth.
“It felt actually unusual to be in Windsor with out her as you’d see her in every single place,” she tells PEOPLE. “It was her dwelling, the place she would drive round, or be driving her horse. It feels odd to be there with out her.”
Cohen provides that it was a “very transferring service” in honor of the late Monarch.
“It was very intimate as all of the Queen’s private workers and her households had been there,” she says. “It signaled the transition to the King as we ended with God Save the King.”
“There was quite a lot of camaraderie — it was like an enormous reunion for all those that’d labored for her for years however had left. She was bringing collectively those that’d labored for her for years like her personal secretaries and different workers and he or she was bringing all of them collectively these final days,” she continues. “She included everybody who’d labored together with her. It was very inclusive and wasn’t hierarchical together with her private workers sitting proper on the entrance.”
Cohen additionally says the service mirrored the Queen’s capability to carry folks collectively.
“It was about private relationships — that is what was so lovely in regards to the Queen,” she says of the service. “She accepted folks from all walks of life and the service mirrored that. The uniting drive was everyone’s love for the Queen. She made it particular as a result of she made certain that everyone felt necessary and included.”
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Cohen reveals that because the late monarch’s coffin was being lowered, “you possibly can hear a pin drop at that second” within the chapel, including “It is arduous to fathom that she’s gone. It would not appear actual.”
She says whereas it was “beautiful” to see the Queen’s prolonged household, they “seemed drained. It was a shock and now it is actual. And the actual mourning begins. The fact of life with out the queen begins now.”
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle sat subsequent to Prince William, Kate Middleton and their two older kids, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, sat within the entrance row of the pews on the committal ceremony.
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On the other facet within the entrance row sat Prince Edward together with his spouse, Sophie, Countess of Wessex, together with their kids, Woman Louise Windsor and James, Viscount Severn.
Straight behind them was King Charles III — with the seat immediately in entrance of him intentionally left empty — beside him was his spouse Queen Camilla, together with sister Princess Anne, brother Prince Andrew and their respective households.