Queen Elizabeth returned to work just four days after the death of Prince Philip.
The 94-year-old monarch put her grief over losing her husband – who died on Friday (09.04.21) aged 99 – to one side to host a retirement ceremony for the former Lord Chamberlain, Earl Peel, on Tuesday (13.04.21).
Earl Peel has now retired from his role as the royal family’s most senior aide, a post he’d held for 14 years, and handed his wand and insignia of office back to the queen at the ceremony in Windsor Castle.
The engagement was recorded in the Court Circular, a daily list of events attended by the royals.
The entry stated: “The Earl Peel had an audience of The Queen today, delivered up his Wand and Insignia of Office as Lord Chamberlain and the Badge of Chancellor of the Royal Victorian Order and took leave upon relinquishing his appointment as Lord Chamberlain, when Her Majesty invested him with the Royal Victorian Chain.”
The royal households are currently observing two weeks of mourning, but officials had stated members of the family would be “continuing to undertake engagements appropriate to the circumstances”.
Princess Anne – the Queen and Prince Philip’s daughter – has also returned to work as she joined the Royal College of Emergency Medicine’s Spring Conference in her role as the organisation’s patron via video link.
Among his duties before his retirement, Earl Peel had been overseeing arrangements for the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral before handing responsibility over to his successor, Andrew Parker, Baron Parker of Minsmere, just over a week before Philip’s passing.
The Lord Chamberlain also oversees all senior appointments within the royal household and leads communication between the monarch and the House of Lords, as well as coordinating operations between Buckingham Palace and Prince Charles’ Clarence House.