On Sunday, Prince Andrew paid tribute to his late father, Prince Philip, calling him the ‘grandfather of the nation’ – noting the ‘great void’ left by his death for the widowed Queen Elizabeth II.
“He was a remarkable man,” the 61-year-old prince, who is scandal-ridden, told reporters of his father, who died Friday at the age of 99.
“I loved him as a father. He was so calm. “He was always someone you could go to, and he always listened,” Andrew said as he left a special service at the Royal Chapel in Windsor Great Park.
“We almost lost the grandfather of the country,” he said.
Andrew – who has mostly stayed out of the spotlight since being thrown out of royal duties over his ties to late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein – said his mother, the 94-year-old queen, remained “stoic”.
“I feel very sorry and support my mother who feels it. I probably think more than anyone, ” he said.
“She described it as a big gap in her life.”
In a possible inquiry into Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, Andrew said: “We, the family – those close by, come together to make sure we are there to support her.”
Andrew’s younger brother, Prince Edward, said the family was ‘still trying to cope’ with the ‘very, very sad’ loss.
“It was a bit of a shock. No matter how much you try to prepare yourself for something like that, it’s still a terrible shock, ” he said of his father, who spent a month in hospital undergoing heart surgery this year.
Edward said the great demonstration of public mourning and support shows that Philip “was our father, grandfather, father-in-law, but he meant so much to so many other people.”