Charles Spencer, the brother of the late Princess Diana, paid his respects to Queen Elizabeth at Windsor after her state funeral on September 19th. Despite friction between the families over how his late sister was treated, Diana’s brother honored the monarch before her massive funeral at Westminster Abbey.
In special honor of the queen, Charles wore cufflinks engraved with the Queen’s Royal Cypher – ER. The ER, or EIIR, initials were the Royal Cypher of Queen Elizabeth II, standing for Elizabeth Regina. Sharing the photo of his tribute on Twitter ahead of the service, he noted he’d be wearing the cufflinks with “great sadness.”
Wearing these at Windsor today, with great sadness and pride. pic.twitter.com/YzmQAaA2N5
— Charles Spencer (@cspencer1508) September 19, 2022
While she was alive and part of the royal family, Princess Diana held the title of Princess of Wales. With the passing of the Queen, that title, not held since Diana’s passing, has been handed down to Prince William‘s wife, Kate Middleton. Now, she is to be known as Princess Catherine.
So far, Princess Catherine has been living up to her predecessor’s namesake, standing dutifully by the royals in this time of mourning. She has attended several royal events in honor of Queen Elizabeth, speaking with the public and making appearances not only with William, but also with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
Ahead of the funeral, Princess Catherine held a special audience with Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska at Buckingham Palace on Sunday, who attended the Queen’s funeral on Monday on behalf of Ukraine.
Queen Elizabeth’s funeral is the culmination of 10 days of mourning for her people and her family. All the members of the royal family, including King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla, were inside Westminster Abbey for the funeral processions. The Queen’s body will be transported to the King George VI Memorial Chapel at Windsor Castle, where she’ll be buried next to her husband Prince Philip. King Charles’ coronation at Westminster Abbey will take place months after his mother’s funeral.