A sweet moment between a mourner and Prince William was filmed days after the death of his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II.
The Prince of Wales spent some time talking to the public during the long walk around Windsor Castle on September 10, two days after the monarch’s death.
A video shared on TikTok shows William stopping to spend time with a dog and its owner.
“Oh look, who is this,” he says when he meets Luna.
“Hi Luna, you’re so sweet Luna.”
The footage, which has since gone viral, shows the prince cupping Luna before giving a glimpse of her pain.
“Dogs right now are very important,” he says. “At the moment I give my dog a lot of hugs.
“I have a little spaniel called Orla. She is very sweet.”
The dog’s owner says to Will, “I’m sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you very much, I appreciate it,” he says. “Thank you for coming today.”
In another emotional moment, the royal couple beamed after spotting a different dog in the crowd and commenting on the power of pets to comfort in dark times.
“Did you see that little dog too?” Prince William says as he points to the crowd in the clip, which quickly went viral.
“Hello, Fergus,” he adds, followed by, “Dogs are very important at the moment.”
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Prince William and Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, had a dog named Lupo and a spaniel, who died in 2021.
In a post on social media, the Duke and Duchess wrote: “Very sadly last weekend our beloved dog, Lupo, passed away. He has been at the heart of our family for the past nine years and the we will be greatly missed.”
Experts say William, who is next in line to the throne behind new monarch King Charles, is stepping into the role with a renewed sense of duty following the death of his devoted grandmother.
“The Duke was incredibly close to his grandmother, he loved her like no one else,” they told the Daily Mail.
“And that service and duty that she epitomized is something that will be very characteristic of her role going forward.”
In particular, William has spent time “future-proofing” his charitable empire, the Royal Foundation, ahead of his new appointment, to ensure that his major climate change project, the Earthshot Prize, can operate independently without his scrupulous involvement.
“He believes that, as the Prince of Wales, he can continue to make a significant contribution, particularly in the area of housing and homelessness,” said a friend of the 40-year-old.
“He knows he has to tread carefully, but he won’t shut up. He has inherited much of his father’s campaigning zeal.
“He shares his father’s willingness to speak out if there’s something he believes in long-term. The Prince of Wales was ridiculed for his views on climate change and look at him now. William wants to take that to his own work,” they said, adding that while the royal doesn’t want to “stir up controversy,” he’s “not afraid to take risks.”
The Queen’s coffin is in Edinburgh for a procession through the streets which started at around 2.30pm (11.30pm AEST) on Monday.
It was carried from the Palace of Holyroodhouse along the narrow, jam-packed Royal Mile in the Old Town to St Giles Cathedral.
King Charles followed the hearse on foot alongside the Queen’s three other children, Anne, Andrew and Edward.
Read related topics: Queen Elizabeth II