Day for the family as three generations of royals gather for service at Windsor

Three generations of the Royal Family gathered for the traditional Easter Sunday service at Windsor Castle.

The Queen was joined by the Duke of Edinburgh and granddaughter Princess Eugenie as she arrived for the Matins service at St George’s Chapel yesterday.

The monarch wore a lilac, green and white Stewart Parvin silk dress with a crepe coat and a matching hat by Philip Somerville, while the Duke of York’s daughter wore a navy dress, cream coat and small navy hat.

Her father, Prince Andrew, was at the service, as well as Princess Anne and her husband, Vice Admiral Tim Laurence.

Prince Edward arrived with wife, Sophie, Countess of Wessex, in a pink coat with a cream hat, and their daughter, Lady Louise Windsor.

However, Prince William and his wife, the Duchess of Cambridge, were not present.

The service, conducted by the Dean of Windsor, the Rt Rev David Conner, included the hymn Thine Be The Glory and the National Anthem.

Afterwards, the Queen was greeted by well-wishers outside the chapel. Freedom Scott Tansley, ten, from Glasgow, said it was the 12th time he had met the monarch and she had commented on his reappearance.

“When the Queen came up to me she said, ‘Oh, so you’re back here now again’,” he said. “I’ve met her 12 times now.”

After the service, the Queen left by car to applause from the gathered well-wishers.

She was presented with posies by Jasmine and Savannah Willans, aged seven and nine, from Standlake, Oxfordshire, the grandchildren of a Military Knight of Windsor.

They were joined by Emilia Bolton, 12, from Southfields, London, whose late grandfather was also a Military Knight of Windsor.

The knights are retired military officers who receive a pension and accommodation at Windsor Castle and provide support for the Order of the Garter and services at St George’s Chapel.

Savannah said that as well as wishing them happy Easter, the Queen asked her if the flowers had been picked from her garden.

She said that the event had been nerve-racking for both of the young girls. She addmitted “We were very nervous, we were shaking.”

Several other children also gave flowers, including Grace and Ben Abbott, nine and seven, who travel every year from Ipswich in Suffolk with their parents for the occasion.