As Queen Elizabeth II is laid to rest on Monday, her children and grandchildren stood vigil at her coffin in the days and hours preceding the funeral ceremony.
The shoulder of Prince Harry’s uniform did not hold the initials “ER,” standing for “Elizabeth Regina,” which is the official Latin title of the queen, Fox News reported.
But it was noticed during the vigils that the “ER” could be seen on the shoulder of Prince William’s uniform, as well as the disgraced Prince Andrew’s.
Prince Harry was reportedly “heartbroken” that the “ER” initials had been removed from his uniform, The Sunday Times reported.
“He is heartbroken. To remove his grandmother’s initials feels very intentional,” a friend of Prince Harry’s told the Sunday Times.
A royal expert also told Fox News Digital that Prince Harry was reportedly “distraught” about the uniform.
“We do not know why the initials were removed from Prince Harry’s uniform, but I am told that Prince Harry was so distraught over the removal that he seriously contemplated not wearing his uniform during the vigil,” royal expert Kinsey Schofield said.
In fact, Prince Harry’s friend added that he even considered just wearing a morning suit instead of the uniform so as to avoid any public embarrassment, the Sunday Times reported.
But Prince Harry’s father, the new King Charles III, actually gave his son special permission to wear a military uniform for the queen’s funeral, even though Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle gave up their royal duties, which also resulted in Prince Harry being stripped of his military titles, the Guardian reported.
Should Harry be allowed to take a larger part in royal life?
Initially, Prince Harry was not expected to wear a military uniform since he had been stripped of his titles, the Independent reported.
But the disgraced Prince Andrew, Duke of York and third child of the late queen, was allowed to wear his military uniform for the vigil of the queen’s children on Friday, despite having also been stripped of his honorary military titles in January.
Prince Andrew was stripped of his military titles after being embroiled in a lawsuit in which he was accused of sexually assaulting one of the victims of Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted pedophile who Prince Andrew had been associated with, the BBC reported.
There was public backlash that Prince Andrew was allowed to wear his uniform and Prince Harry was not, so the king reversed the initial decision and gave special permission for Prince Harry to wear his military uniform, too, the Independent reported.
But it is unknown why the “ER” initials were missing from Prince Harry’s uniform, Schofield told Fox News Digital.
“I don’t think instances like this are a personal attack on him, but unfortunately he believes that they are,” Schofield added.
Though Prince Harry has been formally stripped of his military titles, he had previously served 10 years in the British Army.
So at the vigil for the queen he wore “a Blues and Royals No. 1 Uniform, KCVO Neck Order and Star, Afghanistan Operational Service Medal, Golden, Diamond and Platinum Jubilee medals and Army Pilot Wings,” Fox News reported.
However, though he was allowed to wear a uniform for the vigil, Prince Harry has been in civilian dress throughout other royal events surrounding the queen’s funeral and the period of national mourning, the Guardian reported.
