Prince Charles attended the funeral of close friend Hugh van Cutsem on Wednesday morning,
The Prince of Wales was joined by his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall and sons Prince William and Prince Harry, as they joined mourners at Brentwood Cathedral in Essex.
Charles and Camilla were the last mourners to arrive for the the service, which honoured the life of Hugh, who has been Charles’ closest friend since they met at Cambridge University.
Prince William and Prince Harry attended the funeral after taking part in a charity event in Central London before rushing to the service in Brentwood.
There was no sign of the Duchess of Cambridge, who was earlier this week spotted near her and William’s London home, Kensington Palace.
The funeral was also attended by the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and Camilla’s ex-husband Andrew Parker Bowles.
Hugh, who died last week at the age of 72, was a former officer in the Household Cavalry and confidant of Charles and the two became ‘regular holiday and shooting companions’.
The close friends shared a passion for rural life and conservation since becoming close during their time at Cambridge University.
Hugh and his wife Emilie van Ufford’s son Edward was one of Charles and Diana’s pageboys at their wedding in 1981, and thirty years later the bond with the Van Cutsem’s was once again shown when Hugh and Emilie’s five-year-old daughter Grace was flower girl at Prince William’s wedding to the Duchess of Cambridge in April 2011.
Jordan-Lee, you made the same mistake with this article as with your previous one about Hugh Van Custem’s funeral. Namely, Grace Van Cutsem is the GRANDDAUGTER of the elser Hugh Van Cutsem and his wife Emilie. grace is the daughter of the elder Hugh’s namesake; his son Hugh and Lady Rose Van Cutsem née Astor.
Logically speaking, I realize the father and son have the same first and last name but how likely would it be that a 72 year old man had a 5 year old daughter? I also realize that it has been widely reported that Prince Charles met Hugh Van Cutsem at Cambridge but there is a 7 year age difference between the two men. They may have met when Prince Charles was AT Cambridge but they were unlikely to have been classmates barring the unusual circumstance that Hugh started his education very late. He was either attaining a high degree or some other situation occurred and the men were introduced. Perhaps an article about the beginnings of their friendship would be interesting.
They met when they were quite younger. I believe that Hugh’s father was somehow involved in the managment of the queens horses. Aside from the man himself, and he was extraordinary, there are two very interesting things about Hugh: he may have been the only man to have stood up to Prince Charles (when the reputation of his sons was questioned), and that the reason why Harry and William have turned out so well is in large part due to Hugh, his wife and 4 boys. They were never “hangers on” but good people that the Prince and his family were lucky to know.