Royal Central - Prince Ricardo De La Cerda
Ranald Mackechnie/ Buckingham Palace
The chaplain who was with Queen Elizabeth II in the last hours of her life has spoken of how much Her Late Majesty is missed.
Reverend Kenneth Mackenzie is the Minister at Crathie Kirk, close to Balmoral, and was a personal chaplain to Queen Elizabeth II. He is now a personal chaplain to King Charles III. Speaking to ITV News, he revealed he had been called to the castle in the time before Her Late Majesty passed away although he moved on from talking about those final hours.
Reverend Mackenzie said ”We who spent time with the Late Queen, miss her enormously,”
And he reflected on being with the Royal Family as they came to terms with their loss in the hours and days after Queen Elizabeth II died. He told ITV news that ”it was a really sad, solemn time, quite a moving time for all of us.”
Reverend Mackenzie accompanied the cortege that took the Late Queen’s coffin on its final Scottish journey, from Balmoral to Edinburgh. The six hour trip saw tens of thousands line the route, with ponies brought out to pay respects to the animal loving Monarch and a guard of honour of tractors on one part of the journey.
The minister was in the second car, travelling just behind Princess Anne’s vehicle. He said ”The Princess Royal was really touched by the enormity of the numbers of people who were there. The numbers were extraordinary, it was hard to take in what was going on. I think people wanted to make sure it was a fitting acknowledgement of the end of what had been a remarkable life.”
Queen Elizabeth II died at 3.10pm on September 8th 2022 at Balmoral Castle. She was succeeded immediately by her eldest son who became, at that moment, King Charles III.