WILLIAM and Kate told unsung funeral heroes yesterday there were five rainbows above Balmoral after the Queen died.
The Prince of Wales also revealed he was “choked up” at seeing a sea of flowers and trinkets for her such as toy corgis and Paddington Bears.
William and Kate told unsung funeral heroes yesterday there were five rainbows above Balmoral after the Queen died
Will said to Kate that ‘you hardly ever see rainbows’ in Scotland
They thanked those who helped behind the scenes on Monday, including portable toilet workers, rubbish clearers and the crew who moved flowers to The Long Walk.
At one point, Will, 40, turned to Kate and said: “In Scotland, how many rainbows turned up? You hardly ever see rainbows up there, but there were five.”
Smiling, Kate, 40, replied: “Her Majesty was looking down on us.”
She stayed in Adelaide Cottage when Will flew north in a dramatic dash to his grandmother’s bedside at Balmoral on September 8.
A rainbow was also seen at Windsor Castle after her death was announced.
Kate said: “Extraordinary weather. Right at the end of the day, the heavens opened.”
Will also spoke about some of his family’s conversations since her death.
He told one worker: “We were saying the other day — the Queen said she had never been rained on at the Cenotaph in 70 years. So we will see what happens this year.”
Asked how difficult the past two weeks had been, he replied: “If you flip it on its head, it is always very comforting that so many people care. It makes it a lot better.”
But he added: “You are prepared for all but certain moments catch you out.”
Kate, who was seen viewing the sea of flowers at Windsor with William along with Harry and Meghan, said: “It was amazing how everyone seemed to want to come.
“Reading some of the messages, the Queen had a personal relationship with every one of these people.
“The messages that were left show the Queen had a special meaning to everybody.”
The new Prince and Princess of Wales also read messages on tributes left outside Sandringham last week.
A rainbow was also seen at Windsor Castle after her death was announced
Kate said that the messages and flowers left ‘show the Queen had a special meaning to everybody’
William said: “Seeing the flowers was really moving. We did have a good look. It was the depth of flowers, not just here but at Sandringham too. It was really moving.
“We tried to read as much as we could but some were like essays, it was incredible. The children’s ones were very special to me.
“It’s the things you don’t expect that get you. Paddington got me quite choked up.”
He joked there was now “a bit of competition” between the corgis and Paddington over which are most linked with the Queen.
He said: “Paddington is a new addition; the corgis have been there longer.”
The couple spent an hour at Windsor Guildhall chatting with St John Ambulance crew, Crown Estate staff, council workers and volunteers.
They thanked them for the “seamless” operation which made Monday an “extraordinary” experience.
Windsor saw more than 100,000 people visit on the day of the funeral, with around 100,000 bouquets left in the Queen’s memory.
Will and Kate were joined by Harry and Meghan to view flower tributes at Windsor Castle
Some 850 portable toilets were set up along with 5,000 extra car park spaces and 200 bins.
Nearly 98 “ambassadors” and 1,000 stewards worked to help people get around town and stay safe.
Kate said: “When we’ve been doing the school run, we’ve been able to see the preparations going up. We’ve seen it growing.
It must have been quite a mission. Having gone backwards and forwards last week, we could see it slowly growing. It seemed so well organised.”
She added their children George, Charlotte and Louis had been particularly “beady-eyed” about the drones.
Rehearsals sometimes took place at 3am and Wills told the organisers: “Some of the children in the family woke up and they thought, ‘Are we hearing things?’”
The couple advised the workers to take time off after their heroics.
William said: “You guys have been doing such long hours. It was seamless, you could feel it.
“It couldn’t have gone the way it did without your help.”
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A spokesman for the couple said: “The Prince and Princess wanted to thank people behind the scenes who played such an important part in making Monday happen.”
Stuck-up Prince Laurent of Belgium, 58, said he snubbed the funeral because he did not want to rub shoulders with “commoners”.
