Wellwishers continue to leave flowers for duke despite Covid concerns

Wellwishers are continuing to leave floral tributes to the Duke of Edinburgh at Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle, despite calls for them to stay away due to coronavirus concerns.
Floral tributes and candles are left outside Buckingham Palace, London, following the announcement of the death of the Duke of Edinburgh at the age of 99. Picture date: Friday April 9, 2021. Picture: PA Wire/PA Images/Yui MokFloral tributes and candles are left outside Buckingham Palace, London, following the announcement of the death of the Duke of Edinburgh at the age of 99. Picture date: Friday April 9, 2021. Picture: PA Wire/PA Images/Yui Mok
Floral tributes and candles are left outside Buckingham Palace, London, following the announcement of the death of the Duke of Edinburgh at the age of 99. Picture date: Friday April 9, 2021. Picture: PA Wire/PA Images/Yui Mok

Young children were among a steady stream of people who arrived at both places throughout Saturday morning to pay their respects.

Crowds were growing outside Cambridge Gate at Windsor Castle, taking pictures and leaving tributes including paper crowns and a union flag.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Local resident Craig Truter and his three young children were among those who left tributes at Cambridge Gate.

His sons Ranger, six, and Bale, four, laid hand-made paper crowns with the initials HRHPP (His Royal Highness Prince Philip).

Mr Truter said his children had made the crowns “as a sign of respect” for the duke and saw members of the royal family “quite frequently”.

He added that his family had been “lucky enough” to have been among the members of the public invited inside the castle grounds for the wedding of Princess Eugenie.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

At the Queen’s central London home, guards in red could be seen marching in the courtyard as a slow but steady stream of people arrived to lay bouquets at the front gates.

Nikoletta Peto visited the palace shortly after 9am.

Ms Peto, 39, who is originally from Hungary said: “I have lived here for 15 years and I felt like it’s important to give a flower to someone who is so respected and who has done so much for this country.

“So definitely I wanted to come, even though because of Covid I was shielding for over a year.”

She added: “I felt like I have to do it because I think it is how it should be.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Rebecca Connoll laid some flowers with her five-year-old son Harvey.

She said: “My husband’s in the Army, he’s in the Household Cavalry, so he does a lot of big events with the royal family.

“So we just thought we’d come and pay our respects.”

She added: “We watched it on the news yesterday and we watch a lot of the royal things, we come down and watch the parades, he knows quite a lot about the royal family.”

The public have been told at both Windsor and Buckingham Palace that tributes will be moved elsewhere throughout the day.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The royal family and the Government have both urged people not to leave flowers outside royal residences.

Buckingham Palace asked people to consider making a donation to charity instead, and memorial pages dedicated to the duke on the royal.uk website suggested donations could be made to organisations of which Philip was patron.

On Friday a Cabinet Office spokesman appealed for people to “continue to follow public health advice, particularly on avoiding meeting in large groups and on minimising travel”.

It is thanks to our loyal readers that we can continue to provide the trusted news, analysis and insight that matters to you. For unlimited access to our unrivalled local reporting, you can take out a subscription here and help support the work of our dedicated team of reporters.