Prince Andrew disclosed that the Queen viewed the death of the Duke of Edinburgh as creating a “huge void” in her life, and that it had brought home to him the loss felt by so many people during the coronavirus pandemic.

Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, died at Windsor Castle, aged 99, after a 73-year marriage to the Queen.

“I feel very sorry and supportive of my mother who is feeling it probably more than anybody else.” the Duke of York said to the media after attending a service at Royal Lodge Windsor’s chapel.

The Queen had “described his passing as a miracle,” according to the Duke of York, referring to the fact that Prince Philip died peacefully at home with her rather than alone in hospital.

“The Queen as you would expect is an incredibly stoic person and she described his passing as a miracle and she is contemplating, I think that’s the way I would put it.

“She described it as having left a huge void in her life, but we, the family, the ones that are closer, are rallying around to make sure that we’re there to support her.”

The death of Prince Andrew’s father left his relatives feeling bereft, according to Prince Andrew. “I think the way I would put it is we’ve lost almost the grandfather of the nation.

“He was a remarkable man, I loved him as a father. He was so calm. If you had a problem he would think about it,” Andrew remarked. “He was always someone you could go to.”

Andrew, known as the Queen’s favorite son, has stood down from public life after a botched BBC interview in 2019 about his links to notorious sex abuser and disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Andrew, known as the Queen’s favorite son, has stood down from public life after a botched BBC interview in 2019 about his links to notorious sex abuser and disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

The Queen’s and Prince Philip’s youngest son, Prince Edward, expressed his shock at his father’s demise.

Despite the family’s preparations, Prince Edward, the Queen’s and Prince Philip’s youngest son, said the death always came as a shock.

“It’s still a dreadful shock and we’re still trying to come to terms with that and it’s very, very sad but I have to say that the extraordinary tribute and the memories that everybody’s had and has been willing to share has been so fantastic,” he said.

The royal family appreciates the “extraordinary tributes” and “memories that everybody has had,” he said.

“It was right for him [Prince Philip],” Edward’s wife Sophie, Countess of Wessex, told a congregation member after attending a Windsor church service alongside Andrew. “It was so gentle. It was just like somebody took him by the hand and off he went. Very, very peaceful, and that’s all you want for somebody, isn’t it? I think it’s so much easier for the person that goes than for people that are left behind .”

“My father has been my teacher, my supporter, and my critic, but it is his example of a life well lived and service freely given that I most wanted to emulate,” Princess Anne later said in a statement. “His ability to treat every person as an individual in their own right with their own skills comes through all the organisations with which he was involved.”

“I would like to emphasise how much the family appreciate the messages and memories of so many people whose lives he also touched. We will miss him – but he leaves a legacy which can inspire us all.”