By ALAN FREEMAN


Tuesday, April 2, 2002 – Print Edition, Page A4

LONDON -- Calling her "the most magical grandmother you could possibly have," Prince Charles paid an emotional tribute to the Queen Mother yesterday, saying that her death had left "an irreplaceable chasm in countless lives."

In his statement, the 53-year-old heir to the throne made clear his deep attachment to the Queen Mother, who died Saturday at the age of 101, saying he was "utterly devoted to her." "For me, she meant everything," Charles said in the televised statement, recorded at his Highgrove estate. "I had dreaded this moment along with countless others. Somehow I didn't think it would come. She seemed gloriously unstoppable and since I was a child, I adored her."

According to biographers and watchers of the Royal Family, Charles long had a warmer relationship with his grandmother than with his parents, whom he often considered as cool and distant. With his sensitive disposition, the Queen Mother compared him to her bashful, beloved late husband, King George VI.

Charles recalled "an atmosphere of fun, laughter and affection" at his grandmother's homes. "Above all, she saw the funny side of life and we laughed until we cried -- oh, how I shall miss her laugh and wonderful wisdom born of so much experience and an innate sensitivity to life."

Speaking without notes, he called her "the original life enhancer," "an institution in her own right" and "an immensely strong character."

Behind him was an arrangement of violet orchids and two photos of his beloved granny.

"I know too, what she meant to the whole of my family, particularly to the Queen, for whom she was always such a stalwart and sensitive support ever since my grandfather died when he was just 2½ years older than I am now." (George VI died of complications from lung cancer 50 years ago, at age 56.)

Yesterday, 41-gun salutes were fired at a dozen military sites across Britain and in Gibraltar in honour of the Queen Mother. Preparations were under way for the funeral next Tuesday at Westminster Abbey, the most elaborate funeral Britain will have seen in years.

Members of her staff paid their respects at her coffin yesterday at the Royal Chapel of All Saints in Windsor Great Park, while four gamekeepers, dressed in tweeds, maintained a vigil. The coffin will be taken to London today where it will rest at St. James's Palace before being taken to Westminster Hall on Friday in a huge ceremonial procession. Her body will lie in state for four days, allowing members of the public to pay their respects.

Participating in the procession will be 1,600 soldiers, including at least a dozen from Canada. Four representatives from the three Canadian regiments of which she was Colonel-in-Chief will march, with fellow servicemen and servicewomen from Britain and three other Commonwealth nations.

"It's a huge deal for us. It's a tremendous honour and very important to the regiment," said Lieutenant-Colonel Julian Chapman, Commanding Officer of The Toronto Scottish Regiment, which includes in its official title the phrase, "Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother's Own." The regiment's representatives are to arrive in London today and will immediately begin rehearsing.

Col. Chapman said the Queen Mother became Colonel-in-Chief in 1937 on her accession to the throne and has essentially been the only one the regiment has known since it was formed after the First World War. "Because she was colonel-in-chief, she was part and parcel of regimental life," said Col. Chapman, who last saw the Queen Mother in London in the summer at a luncheon given at Clarence House.

The Queen Mother visited Canada frequently and never forgot her Canadian regiments, which also included the Montreal-based Black Watch of Canada and Canadian Forces Medical Service. The four representatives from each regiment will participate in the procession and on the day of the funeral will serve as ushers at Westminster Abbey.

The Queen and other members of the Royal Family continue to mourn in private at Windsor Castle but she went riding in the grounds yesterday along with her daughter, the Princess Royal, and her youngest son, Edward, the Earl of Wessex.