Lady Celia Vestey, who was Prince Harry’s godmother and a friend to Queen Elizabeth II, has died. She was 71.
The upsetting news of Celia’s death was announced in The Daily Telegraph on Tuesday, December 1. “Celia Elizabeth SRN BA. died suddenly, but peacefully, on Saturday 28th November, aged 71 years,” a statement from her family read. “Adored wife of Sam. Much loved mother of William, Arthur and Mary and loving Granny of Ella, Frankie, Sam and Cosima. Private family funeral. Memorial service later. Family flowers only please, but donations gratefully received in Celia’s memory to Ebony Horse Club.”
Newsweek and The Sun both reported that Harry, 36, privately reached out to Celia’s three children in the wake of the loss.
Celia wed Lord Samuel Vestey, formerly the Master of the Horse to the royal household from 1999 to 2018, in 1981. Samuel, 79, was later appointed to be a permanent Lord-in-waiting to the monarch in 2019.
During Celia’s friendship with Elizabeth, she has joined the British royal family at various events, including Harry’s confirmation in 2000. She also developed a friendship with Elizabeth’s son Prince Charles.
Harry’s parents, Charles, 72, and the late Princess Diana, selected Celia to be one of his six godparents. Back in 1984, Celia attended the British Army vet’s christening at St. George’s Chapel along with his five other godparents: Prince Andrew, Carolyn Bartholomew, Lady Sarah Chatto, Bryan Organ and Gerald Ward.
Celia was also present for Harry’s 2018 wedding to Meghan Markle, with whom he now shares an 18-month-old son, Archie.
Not long before Celia’s passing, Markle, 39, announced that she secretly suffered a pregnancy loss in July. “Losing a child means carrying an almost unbearable grief, experienced by many but talked about by a few,” she wrote in an op-ed for The New York Times last month. “We have learned that when people ask how any of us are doing, and when they really listen to the answer, with an open heart and mind, the load of grief often becomes lighter — for all of us.”
The Suits alum added, “In being invited to share our pain, together we take the first steps toward healing.”
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