Queen’s 'personal' tribute in COP26 speech broke major royal tradition—but she’s not the only one

The Queen reportedly broke with a longstanding tradition in her passionate speech to the COP26 climate summit, though she’s not the only royal to have abandoned this strict rule in recent months. 

• The Queen might not have been able to attend the COP26 climate summit after receiving advice to “rest”, but her pre-recorded speech was incredibly memorable. 
• Her Majesty candidly opened up about the late Prince Philip, though a royal author has claimed that such personal revelations aren’t usually ‘done’ in the Royal Family.  
• This royal news comes as Kate Middleton's quilted vest—how to get the royal's stylish $345 look for a lot less. 

The Queen pulled out of the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow after receiving advice to “rest” amid health fears. This decision came just a week after Buckingham Palace announced that Her Majesty had recently spent a night in hospital. Since then the monarch is said to be in “good spirits” and she’s even been spotted driving near Windsor Castle as she continues to undertake “light duties”. This includes addressing the COP 26 summit in a recent video message, though her powerful words could reportedly indicate a major shift in royal protocol.

In the message which was played during a reception attended by Prince Charles, Duchess Camilla, Prince William and Duchess Kate, the Queen reflected on her late “dear” husband Prince Philip and his passion for conservation. 

She declared, "It is a source of great pride to me that the leading role my husband played in encouraging people to protect our fragile planet, lives on through the work of our eldest son Charles and his eldest son William. I could not be more proud of them.”

But while the Queen’s deeply personal remarks have captured fans’ imaginations, it seems that her heart-warming display of emotion broke with royal custom. Opening up to Femail, Robert Jobson, author of Prince Philip’s Century, has now suggested that the Duke of Edinburgh might've been “embarrassed” by his wife’s public show of pride for him.

He claimed to the publication, “I thought it was a wonderful, deeply personal touch. A tribute to a man of vision, that Prince Philip was. He would have been embarrassed. But it shows how rightly proud she was of him.”

Meanwhile, fellow royal biographer Nigel Cawthorne previously discussed the Royal Family’s tendency to maintain a “stiff upper lip” following Prince Philip’s death. He disclosed to Femail at the time that, “Prince Philip himself would not countenance public displays of affection”.

However, Nigel also reportedly expressed his belief that the Royal Family's outpouring of grief for the Duke of Edinburgh could have signaled a shift in the monarchy's approach to displays of emotion.

“It is significant that not only Charles but even the Queen appears to have broken this rule”, he shared at the time. “The stiff upper lip is no longer, and under Charles' increased influence it is likely to be phased out as out of tune with the times.”

Following his father’s death, Prince Charles broke his silence from his Gloucestershire home, Highgrove House. It was here that he delivered a heartfelt speech that contained just as much emotion as his royal mother’s recent video message.

He poignantly stated, "My dear Papa was a very special person who I think above all else would have been amazed by the reaction and the touching things that have been said about him, and from that point of view we are, my family, deeply grateful for all that. It will sustain us in this particular loss and at this particularly sad time. Thank you."

Though the Queen and Prince Charles’ tributes to Prince Philip could be seen to indicate a shift away from the royal rule of keeping displays of emotion private, they’ve certainly given fans an insight into the incredible bonds within their family.