Veteran BBC commentator David Dimbleby remarked that they looked like ordinary members of the public.
Cousins, nieces, great-nephews, and grandsons-in-law: the extended Royal Family were all out for today’s Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s cathedral.
They arrived in more plebeian transportation than the previous day’s horse-drawn carriages – bussed in by coach, albeit one with blacked-out windows. But when they descended from their vehicle, the sea of padded headbands and fascinators gave them away.
Of course Her Majesty knows them all, but could the rest of us name many of the clan?
Catching a rare glimmer of limelight was Lady Sarah Chatto. The Queen’s adored niece, daughter of the late Princess Margaret, is said to be a favourite of our monarch as she reminds her of her beloved sister. Lady Sarah, 58, met her husband Daniel, now 65, in India during her gap year.
She was working as a wardrobe assistant on the film Heat and Dust. These days both are artists.
Their Instagram-able, Eton-educated sons were with them.
Personal trainer and model Arthur, 23, in military uniform, has joined the Royal Marines, while floppy-haired Samuel, 25, is an artist and potter.
Lady Sarah’s brother and Margaret’s son, the furniture-maker David Linley, Earl of Snowdon, 60, was at the service, along with his son Charles Armstrong-Jones, 22.
In 2012 Charles was made first Page of Honour to the Queen, carrying her train on state occasions. In 2018 he left to study product design engineering at Loughborough University.
The Queen’s cousins, an ever-increasing support since the loss of Prince Philip, were out in force.
Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, 86, was there along with his wife Katharine Worsley, 89, in blue. He is the son of Prince George, the younger brother of King George VI, the Queen’s father. Prince Edward supported Her Majesty on the Buckingham Palace balcony on Thursday.
His father died flying in the Second World War when he was just seven.
Aged 18, Prince Edward enrolled at Sandhurst and graduated as a Second Lieutenant. His titles include President of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
His younger brother, Prince Michael of Kent, 79, was at St Paul’s with his wife, Princess Michael, 77. Prince Michael had a long military career in Germany, Hong Kong and Cyprus, and now owns a consultancy business.
Striking in hat-to-shoe peach, their daughter, Lady Gabriella Kingston, 41, was by their side with her husband, financier Thomas Kingston, 43 – said to have dated Pippa Middleton.
A freelance writer, Lady Gabriella dabbled in singer-songwriting in 2020.
She released her first single to raise funds for the Playing for Change Foundation, a global music and arts education non-profit organisation that she sits on the board of. Her brother, financial analyst Lord Frederick Windsor, 43, attended the service with his wife Sophie Winkleman, 41, splendid in fuchsia.
The sister of TV star Claudia, Sophie is an actress, most recognisable for her Peep Show character, Big Suze. Their daughter Maud was a bridesmaid for Princess Eugenie.
Eugenie herself was there, and appeared to have a small tattoo behind her ear. She was with her elder sister Beatrice.
The Queen’s first cousin Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester, 77, and the turquoise-hatted Duchess of Gloucester, 75, joined the celebration. He has a degree in architecture, and was at one time a partner in a London architecture firm.
But in the early 1970s his elder brother Prince William died in a flying accident, and he inherited his dukedom, taking on more royal duties.
He married Birgitte van Deurs, from Denmark, after they met at university.
He now occasionally represents the Queen at functions.
Their lookalike daughters, Lady Davina and Lady Rose, have not followed conventional Royal paths.
Lady Davina, 44, wed Gary Lewis, the Maori son of a champion sheep-shearer, although they split in 2019.
They lived in a working-class area of Auckland. They have two children, Senna Kowhai and Tane Mahuta, named after a giant kauri tree in New Zealand’s Waipoua Forest.
Lady Rose, 42, married to George Gilman, son of a property developer, has forged a career in film, being an art assistant on Harry Potter movies.
The mix of ancient history, pomp and fairytale in today’s service may well prove inspiring to her.
