George and Charlotte to join procession

[Dodie66]

Just reporting on the news George and Charlotte will join the procession inside the cathedral

The order of service on the BBC website says The Royal Family will arrive at the Great West Door by the Dean and Chapter of Westminster.
They will be conducted to their seats in the Lantern, where they will remain seated until the Queen's coffin enters the Abbey.

This is the life they are born into and it’s normal for them. And yea I agree, as an Irish we have no issues with any of this. Open coffins, wakes, sitting down chatting to the dead while they are at rest in the house.

William and Kate are not going to endanger their children and no they won’t walk alone behind their parents. What a preposterous idea.

It is what is shown in the full order of service on The Guardian. They have the whole PDF which clearly shows the pairs of people walking in and Andrew walking alone. Charlotte and George behind William and Kate and in front of Harry and Meghan.

Yes, I still don’t see where it says that George and Charlotte will be walking alone together in the procession though? I can’t even see their names mentioned on the order of service, so perhaps I’m looking at the wrong thing.

Cross post, i will look at this.

I can't find it now! It was definitely there before because I looked through the whole thing to see which tune they were using for Love Divine.

Maybe they weren't meant to release it!

www.westminster-abbey.org/abbey-news/order-of-service-for-the-state-funeral-published

Yes I see it now. Interesting to see what will happen tomorrow. My children are ages with George and Charlotte and I know they’d want to be involved. I’d like to walk with them instead of ahead, but I’m not raising a future king so what do I know!

Doesn’t family always walk into church/crem once the non-family guests are already in? It’s not a “procession” exactly, it’s just walking into the church/crem as the most important attendees, though I appreciate this is a cathedral and they’ll have a lot of people watching them. I’ve walked into many a church/crem with children & nieces & nephews (sadly). We tend to be a bit ad hoc at the door, let Auntie Sue go first etc, but they’re better organised than us.

I have a Gdd who’s almost exactly the same age as Charlotte, and I think she’d cope very well.

Amazing how so many MNers think they know those children better than their own parents do.

My sister and I went to our (much loved) Grandad's funeral at about the same ages as C and G.

My sister's diary entry from the day still makes us smile. She was not traumatised but full of curiosity and described all sorts of details the rest of us didn't notice. (He was not royalty, but his coffin was under a flag. Neither of us know why.) A taste of sherry at the wake was the most notable thing apparently.

A family funeral is fine - my two went to their first at ages 3 and 11 months. The very public part of it is different here though. I'm sure their parents will have weighed up whether they were emotionally up to it.

I assume not, or you wouldn’t have asked such a dopey question.

And did you make them walk in to the church in a formal procession behind you and unable to hold your hand or take any comfort from you while you couldn't even see how they were holding up?

When my dad died, this is pretty much what happened with my children (youngest 7 oldest 12). I was concerned most for my mum so sat with her and walked with her and my sister down the aisle and back after the coffin. She needed me more that day. My wonderful MIL sat with my children - who adored their grandfather - and minded them. She did the same at the wake/removal the night before. There was an open coffin too and my children kissed granddad goodbye. But I'm Irish so none of this is shocking. I would have been more surprised if they hadn't had George and Charlotte take part in the funeral.

Hysterical much?

Their parents can look behind them and will obviously take their hands if necessary. I am sure it won’t be, they are used to formal events.

There’s no reason to assume their parents aren’t perfectly able to look after their own children and judge what is suitable for them.

They hardly know Harry, never mind Meghan.

I think they need to stop perading these children around like accessories, the jubilee was the same, trying to get people to like them more by using their kids, yuck. There will obviously be a private thing once all the circus ceremony is done tomorrow, why not just let them go to that once the cameras have stopped rolling? I wouldn't want my children anywhere near tomorrow if I was them.

I was surprised when I saw the procession bit until I realised it was inside the abbey only. That feels massively different to walking behind outside and much less exposed to the public.

I also wonder if the funeral service actually will feel a bit more removed emotionally given it’s formality (eg the smaller service might feel like the real, family funeral. Either way I hope the cameras don’t focus on them during the service.

At 9 George would have been borderline for me. Louis would have always been a no. I have a feisty child Charlotte’s age and I can imagine mine demanding to go whether it was a good idea or not. It may have been a case of family dynamics meaning it was both of the older two or neither of them.

I agree. But TPTB probably see this as character building for them for the future.

I'm very sorry your Dad died when you were so young.

but you can't compare a 'normal' funeral to the biggest gathering of heads of state EVER, 2000 people in WA & the entire worlds press in your face AND a state funeral that will go on for A Very Long Time. You just can't.

at 7&9, I don't care if they were asked, they shouldn't have been. There's a private service later, that's all the funeral those two wee ones needed to go to.

I cannot believe William, of all people, is allowing this. Nor Kate.

I’m wondering whether the private thing might be worse as they are burying the Queen and Prince Philip.

@HilarityEnsues I am sure you would have had a discussion with your children before the funeral to tell them what to expect at the service. I am pretty sure K&W will have done the same. At 7 and 9, they will have an understanding of death, and what's involved in a funeral. They aren't following the coffin though the streets on foot. They'll travel by car and process through the Abbey, so no crowds to contend with.
Remember when Charlotte and then Louis were born? A 2 year old Prince George brought brought to the hospital and had to wave to a roaring crowd, and then again at 5 and Charlotte was only 3? Crowds in much closer proximity, yelling and taking photos , but that was acceptable because it's a happy news story? That was much more unacceptable in my view as they were so young, and wouldn't have had an idea of what it was all about.

I have no problem if they feel able to do this.though I do think it’s silly to say this is just another funeral.this is jot just grandma’s funeral in the local church.
i alos no they start learning how to do this stuff from the moment they can walk so won’t be completely blindsided here.

id like to think if they couldn’t do it they wouldn’t make them.
but let’s not pretend this isn’t royal family protocol’s and that people have been forced to do this stuff in the past(Harry and William have openly stated they never wanted to and the elders said they had to) but again I think this would be more pressure on the older generation now and wouldn’t be on these little ones so much.

and I’d like to think William would no more than anyone whether to do this or not. But again he is the royal rules to follow too.

Nine-year-old George and his sister, seven, will form part of a procession with the Royal Family, following the coffin as it enters the church.

The Prince and Princess of Wales will walk ahead of George and seven-year-old Charlotte, who called the Queen "Gan Gan", followed by their uncle and aunt, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, and other members of the Royal Family.
George and Charlotte's younger brother Louis, 4, is not expected to attend.

They’re walking into church with their parents. I think that they are old enough to attend a funeral.
As for the ceremony, the world’s eyes on them issue - they have been part of public wedding processions from a much younger age as page boy/flower girl.
It’s a sad occasion this time but the procession thing isn’t new to them.

I can't imagine how frenzied it's going to be tomorrow. It's not just a case of a funeral in a small church.

There'll be tons of press, security and everything.

I think they'd be better at home

How long is it actually meant to last for?