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Earl of Wessex: Easing of restrictions helped ‘fill void’ after Philip’s death

Edward told CNN the Queen is doing ‘remarkably well’ in the wake of the Duke of Edinburgh’s death.

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The Earl of Wessex

Britain opening up has helped “fill any particular void” for the royal family in the wake of the Duke of Edinburgh’s death, the Earl of Wessex has said.

On what would have been his father’s 100th birthday, Edward said in an interview with American news network CNN that the country’s emergence from lockdown has helped his family keep busy following Philip’s death in April.

He told the network: “Over the last couple of weeks, life has got considerably busier”, adding the Queen is “doing remarkably well”.

He continued: “Things are beginning to open up more, there are more activities, so weirdly that sort of fills any particular void.

“I think there are going to be other times further on in the year where I think that it will become a bit more poignant and a bit harder, but at the moment … I think that everybody’s in pretty good shape really.”

In a separate interview with the BBC, Edward said that, while the family would have “loved” the duke to have been able to experience his centenary, Philip would have been less than excited for the event.

Edward told the broadcaster: “He didn’t really want all the fuss and bother. I think he wasn’t really looking forward to the centenary, even if we were.

“So I think we go ahead and celebrate what might have been and his life, and I think we try to turn it into something that’s very positive.”

Reflecting on his father’s funeral amid the pandemic, the earl said it was an “extraordinary” but “strange” day.

He told the BBC: “What should have been an occasion for so many people, and so many people that he had touched in his life not being there…

“Everybody will have their own memories. He was that sort of larger-than-life person. Once met, never forgotten.”

On Wednesday, the Queen marked the occasion with the planting of a newly-bred rose named after her beloved late husband.

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