Princess Diana's Brother Had This To Say About Prince Philip's Funeral

Earl Charles Spencer, Princess Diana's brother, wasn't one of the 30 guests invited to Prince Philip's funeral. But he certainly watched it closely. The Spencer family, of course, has always had close ties to Buckingham Palace. Charles Spencer's and Princess Diana's father, Viscount Althorp, famously served Queen Elizabeth's father. In the days leading up to the Duke of Edinburgh's funeral, Spencer shared a 1952 photo showing his dad serving as a pallbearer at King George VI's funeral (via Hello!). Then there's the fact that Queen Elizabeth is Charles Spencer's godchild. Her Majesty, according to Today, gave young Charles a radio once before sending him off to boarding school, even though radios were contraband there. "It was a very good godmotherly trick," Spencer reflected. Finally, both Charles and his sister, Diana grew up playing with Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip's children (via Oprah Daily).

So while Princess Diana's brother did not attend Prince Philip's funeral in person, he was very definitely grieving from afar. After, he tweeted a five-word description of the ceremony. 

Royal followers often remember Charle's Spencer's eulogy to his sister, Princess Diana, at her funeral. During the ceremony, over 20 years ago, pundits gasped at the earl's rage. Back then, Spencer publicly announced that his sister had "talked endlessly of getting away from England, mainly because of the treatment that she received at the hands of the newspapers." He furthermore promised to protect his "beloved" nephews, Harry and William from a similar fate (via New Zealand Herald). But if Spencer was aggressive during his sister's ceremony, his reaction to Prince Philip's funeral service was anything but.

"Goodness – what a stunningly moving ceremony," Charles Spencer tweeted after watching it. Followers of Spencer's noted that the service had "brought back many memories of your sister's funeral." They further posited that Spencer must be "proud of your nephews today. It was so good to see them together after the service" (via Twitter).