Here are some photos of Queen Elizabeth II out and about on Sunday. For the second Sunday in a row, she managed to go to church. Which is cause for celebration, because it sounds like the Queen was really, really sick over the holidays. She was so sick she skipped church on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day and only returned to church services on January 8th, which is when she was joined by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the Middletons (plus Terribly Rich James Matthews). For this Sunday’s church visit, she was joined by her husband and some of her older-gal friends, it seems. People Mag suggested that the Queen might have been in mourning for her late brother-in-law:
It was a somber time, but Queen Elizabeth II looked to be in good spirits on Sunday morning as she attended a church service following the death of her former brother-in-law Lord Snowdon — who died on Friday at 86. The 90-year-old monarch wore a royal purple dress, matching coat and hat with a black flower on it — and carried her signature clear umbrella to shield her from rain as she entered the mass at St. Mary’s Church in Flitcham, England.
Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, was by her side in a long green tench coat and grey pants. The two recently battled “heavy colds,” forcing the Queen to cancel some of her annual holidays plans at the end of last year, including a train trip to Sandringham Estate and her Christmas Day and New Year’s church services.
Lord Snowdon’s son David Armstrong-Jones joined the Queen for the church trip. The 55-year-old second Earl of Snowdon, whose mother is the late Princess Margaret, wore a coat over his matching suit. His parents wed in 1960, and had two children before divorcing in 1978. Princess Margaret died in 2002 after suffering a stroke. Sunday’s 45-minute service was conducted by the Rt. Rev. Paul Williams, Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham, Eastern Daily Press reported. After church, the Queen and Duke visited a woman and her family at a cottage next door to St Mary’s before returning to their Range Rover for the drive back to Sandringham House.
I always forget about Princess Margaret’s kids, the Queen’s only niece and nephew. There’s David Armstrong-Jones and Lady Sarah Chatto. I think both of them are still pretty close to the Queen? And I definitely think the Queen still misses her sister and her mother terribly – they both passed away in 2002. But did the Queen have much affection for the first Lord Snowden? Eh. Who knows?
In any case, it’s good to see the Queen up and about. She looks healthy, although that shade of purple probably makes most people look a bit more vivacious.
Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.
I think Sarah regularly visits TQ.
Sarah was my favorite part of the recent documentary of behind-the-scenes personal royal films. It sounded like HM made sure they knew they were part of the family after the divorce, and included them in all kinds of activities. She may have been a great steadying force for them through Margaret’s more tumultuous years.
Unfortunately, I haven’t seen the documentary. I wanted to but missed it.
I saw that documentary. You can tell that Sarah really loved and missed her mother just by watching her watching those old films of her mom and the Queen.
Look at her sweet smile to that woman in the hat, though she’s been recently ill. (People I work with, much younger than her, have been pummeled and dragging for weeks with weird heavy colds affecting both breathing and stomach, so I am glad she was taking care of herself. I’ve got a touch of the weird office “cold” and am on a second round of antibiotics, and I was in fine health prior to this.)
So now I want to know: was she close-ish to/at least cordial with Lord Snowden? I thought yes?
She is close to both her sister’s children and their families.
Lord Snowden always remained friendly with the Royal family. He continued to photograph them long after he and Princess Margaret divorced.
I think the Queen looks like she’s definitely on the road to recovery. Very good to see. Although I agree she looks great in purple.
She looks tired – understandably – but otherwise like she’s recovering. It’s nice to see – I was genuinely getting worried for a while there.
Beautiful skin!
Agree she has gorgeous skin. Contrast her to Princess Margaret in her later years and you can see clearly what suntanning and smoking does to the skin.
It’s always been one of her best features. Great complexion.
I don’t know if the BRF remained close to him on a personal level, but he continued to do many of their official photos for a few decades. William and Harry’s baby pictures, christenings, family portraits of the Waleses, portraits of Diana, HM and Prince Philip’s 60th anniversary portrait, etc.
(Jessica, we must have posted at the same time!)
I clicked fora closer look at the purple ensemble. QE is my fashion icon.
I’ll be looking for a sweater or something in that purple. Really beautiful color.
In my head, she’s making a silent tribute to Prince.
Lol she does look good in purple, also I think Queenie and Boy George have a similar taste in hats…
She’s got the sweetest smile!
She doesn’t look much older than Charles.
Or Camilla!
Anyone else going to talk about the hilarious expression on DoE’s face in the first pic. He looks like he’s about to go, “Oy! She’s not dead, alright?! Fuck off!”
I love that she holds her own umbrella in these pictures. I have seen too many younger celebrities too weak to hold their own.
She always has clear umbrellas so people can see her too. She mixes it up with different color handles sometimes.
She is fairly close to both Lady Sarah Chatto and David Armstrong-Jones. I think that’s quite lovely, and the two of them are wonderful folks as well. I always thought Princess Margaret did a good job raising her children, in spite of the tumultuous life and marriage she had. I can’t tell for certain if the Queen was close with Princess Margaret’s husband, but I do remember that she didn’t exactly approve of Margaret’s reasons for divorcing him (it’s been said that the RF sided mainly with Anthony Armstrong-Jones, so).
Who are the two ladies accompanying the Queen in the last pic? They both seem to be holding some kind of ceremonial staff. Are they members of the clergy?