Do you ever get the sense that the general public cares about the Cambridge/Wales children’s welfare more than the children’s parents care about their welfare? It’s no secret that Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis were brought out way too often during the Jubbly in June. Louis especially – he was too young and too antsy to be out in public for hour upon hour of boring-ass Jubbly events. It was clear then that Prince William and Kate will do anything to keep the focus on their children, at the expense of everyone else (especially Harry and Meghan, at least that’s what Will and Kate hope). So it was again for QEII’s funeral.

We found out late Sunday that the “courtiers” had gotten their way and convinced the Waleses to bring Prince George to his grandmother’s state funeral, all eleventy billion hours of it. We also learned that someone had pushed the idea that both George and Charlotte needed to come. Something about the line of succession and the public needing to see that everything was in safe hands. So two small children – one seven-year-old and one nine-year-old – had to be thoroughly exposed all the way through a state funeral at Westminster Abbey AND Windsor Castle for hours and hours.

Looking back on the entire day, it would have been so much smarter to not have George and Charlotte at the Abbey, but let them come out for the Windsor Castle service. I mean, the kids “live” in Windsor now – surely Nanny Maria could have discreetly brought them over to the castle for the second part of the funeral? But no, we had to watch as two little kids tried to process the death of their great-grandmother, the Queen, in public at her state funeral. At one point, Charlotte told George when to bow. At another point, Charlotte seemed to cry and get very emotional. And Kate still didn’t drop her mob-boss-widow veneer.

There are also a few photos of Charlotte – who was seated next to her Uncle Harry – looking over at both Harry and Meghan with a good deal of curiosity. I genuinely wonder what those kids have overheard from their parents. Last thing: Charlotte wore a small diamond horseshoe brooch, a gift from her great-grandmother.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.