The Prince and Princess of Wales have been in Surrey visiting Commonwealth troops who have been tasked to the United Kingdom for Queen Elizabeth II’s State Funeral on Monday.
The royal couple visited troops from Canada, Australia and New Zealand; with 64 Canadian soldiers, 28 Australian soldiers and 25 New Zealand soldiers being involved in the State Funeral.
Upon arrival, William and Catherine were treated to a Māori Haka dance, a traditional greeting dance in Māori culture, from the members of the New Zealand Defence Force.
Both William and Catherine were overheard talking about how surreal it has been for the Royal Family to go from the highs of Platinum Jubilee weekend in June to the lows of Queen Elizabeth II’s death last week on 8 September.
Catherine was overheard telling the Canadian contingent, “’Going from that to this in a few months is very strange,” while William was heard telling the Australian contingent that all the preparation for a state funeral from jubilee celebrations shows “the highs and lows of it all.”
The Pirbright Army Service Centre normally houses 750 service personnel from the Defence and Commonwealth Realms Defence Forces; and the soldiers there have previously been tasked for royal events like the Platinum Jubilee celebrations and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral in April 2021.
Kensington Palace announced the visit on Thursday, writing that William and Catherine would “meet with senior representatives of the defence staff and servicepeople from each nation to thank them all for the part they are playing in marking the death of Her Majesty The Queen.”
The Prince and Princess of Wales’s visit to Pirbright comes as King Charles and Queen Camilla tour Wales on the last of their visits to the nations of the United Kingdom. Tonight, the king and his siblings will hold a vigil at the coffin of their mother.
