The start of 2002 was a difficult period for Queen Elizabeth II, with February seeing her sister Princess Margaret passed away aged 71.
Shortly after the upsetting death of her sister, Queen Elizabeth II’s mother, the Queen Mother, died in March 2002, breaking the Queen’s heart, with Prince Harry sharing emotional details in his memoir, Spare.
The Duke of Sussex detailed the painful injury that led to the death of his great-aunt Margaret, whom he called Aunt Margo. “She was unable to care for herself,” he wrote. “After badly burning her feet in a bath, she was confined to a wheelchair, and said to be swiftly declining.”
He went on to describe how the death of Princess Margaret impacted his great-grandmother, the Queen Mother, whom he called Gan-Gan, who was experiencing her own health issues.
“When [Princess Margaret] died, February 9, 2002, my first thought was that this would be a heavy blow to Gan-Gan, who was also in decline,” before sharing how the two tragic deaths impacted Queen Elizabeth II.
“Granny tried to talk Gan-Gan out of attending the funeral. But Gan-Gan dragged herself out of her sickbed, and shortly after that day took a bad fall.”
The Queen Mother never recovered from the fall and died soon after. Ahead of her funeral on 30 March 2002, her body lay in the state initially at St James’s Palace, before being transferred to Westminster Hall, guarded by members of the Welsh Guard and Yeoman of the Guard.
In an event later mirrored by her daughter’s death 20 years later, so many members of the public arrived to show their respect that the official opening hours had to be extended.
Unlike her mother and sister, Princess Margaret had a low-key funeral following her passing on 9 February 2002.
The event, which was held on 15 February 2002, was only for friends and family, and unlike other members of the royal family, her body was cremated at Slough Crematorium.
