George, Charlotte at Queen's Funeral Compared to William, Harry at Diana's

Prince George and Princess Charlotte joined Prince William and Kate Middleton for Queen Elizabeth II's funeral service—in a move with both similarities and differences to William and Harry walking behind Princess Diana's coffin at her funeral.

The young royals processed into Westminster Abbey alongside their parents, the new Prince and Princess of Wales, and ahead of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

The confirmation of their attendance came at 11:30 p.m. U.K. time when the order of service was released by Buckingham Palace with less than 12 hours to go until the start of Elizabeth's final journey.

George and Charlotte were seen arriving in a car with Kate Middleton and Camilla, Queen Consort at around 10.40 a.m. London time, minutes before the procession was due to start.

King Charles III and Princess Anne then led the procession as it entered the abbey, followed by the queen's other children.

William and Kate then led the grandchildren with George, nine, and Charlotte, seven, accompanying them.

Their presence at a state funeral at such a young age will likely stir memories of Prince William and Prince Harry walking behind Princess Diana's coffin at ages 15 and 12 at her funeral almost exactly 25 years ago in September 1997.

However, there are differences as well as similarities as the royal brothers were, unlike George and Charlotte, required to walk for around three miles from Kensington Palace to the abbey past hundreds of thousands of public mourners.

While George and Charlotte were close with their great-grandmother, the loss also cannot compare to the trauma of William and Harry losing their mother.

In an exclusive Newsweek interview in 2017, Harry said: "My mother had just died, and I had to walk a long way behind her coffin, surrounded by thousands of people watching me while millions more did on television.

"I don't think any child should be asked to do that, under any circumstances. I don't think it would happen today."

Queueing to see the queen lying in stating at Westminster Hall stopped at 6:30 a.m. London time and at 10:44 a.m. (5:44 a.m. ET) her coffin was taken by gun carriage in a procession to Westminster Abbey.

President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will be among world leaders who gathered for the service, which started at 11 a.m. and was due to finish just before midday.

There will then be a second procession, which George and Charlotte will not attend, that will take the queen to Hyde Park where minute guns will fire in her honor.

At 1 p.m., she will then be taken by hearse to St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, where there will be a committal service at 4 p.m.

It is the same church where Elizabeth famously sat alone during Prince Philip's funeral in April 2021, in keeping with COVID-19 guidelines in place at the time.

There will be no such restrictions for Britain's longest reigning monarch, however, as U.K. police prepare for the largest operation in the country's history.

On the eve of the funeral, Charles released a message to the public: "As we all prepare to say our last farewell, I wanted simply to take this opportunity to say thank you to all those countless people who have been such a support and comfort to my Family and myself in this time of grief."

That night, world leaders gathered for a reception at Buckingham Palace after some, including the Bidens, stopped at Westminster Hall to see the queen lying in state.

The President and First Lady appeared visibly moved as they looked down from a balcony onto the coffin, draped in the Royal Standard and carrying the Imperial State Crown, Orb and Sceptre.

Quoted by Reuters, Biden later said: "To all the people of England, all the people in United Kingdom, our hearts go out to you. You were fortunate to have had her for 70 years, we all were. The world's better for her."