That moment sparked a debate on social media on whether or not it was appropriate to question why the queen cried publicly.
Royal Central editor Charlie Proctor shared the snap of the queen as she appeared to be wiping a tear from her eye. Soon after, the media published stories highlighting the fact that while it is generally perceived that Queen Elizabeth rarely shows her emotion in public, she didn’t hold back her sadness this time.
USA Today wrote a piece dissecting that it’s not true Queen Elizabeth doesn’t cry in public, citing comments from royal historian Sally Bedell Smith. The royal author said that the queen was “very tearful” during the funeral of her beloved sister, Princess Margaret, in 2002. /
Royal commentator Victoria Arbiter also said that the queen is known to hold back her tears appropriately. However, she was seen crying at her husband’s funeral because this was, obviously, a significant loss for her.
The public called out the stories of the queen crying in public and said that it was expected for her to be in tears because she lost her husband of more than 70 years. A senator in the United States, however, called out USA Today’s “preposterous” piece and said that there would be no stories like this if this was about a male leader.
But the queen’s eldest son, Prince Charles, was definitely seen crying as he marched in front of his father’s casket. Royal watchers on social media observed that grief was marked on the future king’s face. Queen Elizabeth’s daughter, Princess Anne, who also follows her mother’s usually stoic presence, was also in tears next to Charles.
The netizens said that no matter what age, a child will also cry once a parent is gone. Most everyone agreed that it was okay to be overwhelmed with emotion, regardless of their status in life, because they’ve lost their beloved patriarch.
Charles was also quite emotional when he visited Marlborough House with his wife, Camilla, to look at the heaps of flowers, sympathy cards and pictures from the public to honor the Duke of Edinburgh.
Meanwhile, Queen Elizabeth is expected to remain in Windsor Castle instead of moving back to Buckingham Palace to be close to her husband who was buried at the crypts of St. George’s Chapel next to the castle. According to royal reporters, the staff members have been advised that the queen will make Windsor her permanent home and will only be at Buckingham Palace as needed.