Queen Elizabeth II died on this date in 2022
The Prince of Wales joked about his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II’s passion for horses with members of her Women’s Institute (WI) as he marked the third anniversary of her death. William was joined by the Princess of Wales for the visit to the National Federation of Women’s Institutes – in tribute to the late Queen’s decades-long association with the organisation – and told guests he could not believe how quickly the time had passed.
Separately, his brother the Duke of Sussex, in the UK to attend a series of charity events, privately visited the late Queen’s resting place in the King George VI Memorial Chapel at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, to pay his respects and lay flowers.
William told some of the guests: “It’s three years since my grandmother died, she was a big part of the WI, she used to talk about it a lot. This is the first time I’ve been, and experienced the WI, so this is a huge honour for me.”
He asked for members’ memories of the late Queen and later told them “can’t believe it’s three years – goes quite quick”, and they chatted about his grandmother’s passion for horses and horse breeding.
The prince said with a smile: “I think she would have liked a few more winners,” then told the members his grandmother had “an old iPad” she would use to watch her foals being born via a remote camera, adding “a lot of foals were born at Sandringham”.
The event was hosted by the Sunningdale branch of the WI in their small Berkshire hall with an array of cakes on a side table which William and Kate, who had not been expected to attend, could not resist.
The WI has a close connection with Elizabeth II as she was a member for 80 years, joining in 1943 and serving as president of the Sandringham WI from 2003 until her death in 2022 at Balmoral, aged 96 after a reign lasting 70 years.
The late Queen was an active member of the Sandringham WI and would regularly attend the New Year meeting in January. Traditionally associated with “jam and Jerusalem”, the institute has modernised in recent years, with members from the Rylstone and District WI in North Yorkshire launching the craze for naked calendars in 1999, with their efforts in aid of charity inspiring the Calendar Girls.
During the reception, Kate and William joined members at a series of tables and the princess told the first group: “The making and creating of the WI is at the heart of your organisation.”
And when she later described how she carries out activities with her children at home, William said with glee: “There was a bit of sloe gin-making I was involved with.”
The prince teased some of the group, asking: “Can you have honorary male members of the WI?” When they answered: “No” in chorus, he smiled and said: “Point taken.”
In a serious moment, he appeared to hint at a possible future project – supporting the nation’s network of charity air ambulances. William, who served as a helicopter pilot with East Anglian Air Ambulance for two years, said his old charity “had to raise £9 million a year – an insane amount of money” and went on to say with regards to the service as a whole: “We have to make a way to make it sustainable.”
