A royal send-off
An official state memorial service for His Royal Highness, Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh was held at Wellington Cathedral of St Paul yesterday.
As the invite-only congregation filed in – including current and former prime ministers, governorsgeneral, diplomats and military brass – I Vow To Thee My Country played in the background.
The Queen – head of the Church of England – laid the foundation stone of the pastel, cavernous cathedral in 1954.
Yesterday’s service was led by the Archbishop of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa and Polynesia, the Most Reverend Philip Richardson. He led off with a prayer that summed up the rest of the perfunctory and no-fuss memorial.
‘‘In gratitude, we bid farewell to a greatly loved servant. For his energy and compassion, for his encouragement and interest, for his unfailing support to Her Majesty the Queen, for his particular commitment to young people, for his example of service, and for the duty which he rendered to his country and Commonwealth, we thank and praise Almighty God.’’
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern read a poem from Kiwi author Joy Cowley, called Memories. Former prime ministers Sir Geoffrey Palmer, Jim Bolger, Helen Clark and Sir Bill English were also in attendance.
Governor-general Dame Patsy Reddy rattled off some interesting facts about Prince Philip’s life in tribute to the late royal. He visited New Zealand 14 times, and some 13 million young people have gone through his Duke of Edinburgh Awards programme.
He also attended a service at Wellington’s Karori Cemetery on New Year’s Eve 1953 for those killed a week earlier in the Tangiwai rail disaster.
Choral music from New Zealand Secondary Schools Choir and the cathedral choir gave the service some lustre and ran alongside a Powerpoint montage of lesserknown photos of the Duke.
The local event follows a funeral for the Prince that took place at St George’s Chapel in windsor over the weekend.
Both the Queen and Prince
Philip worshipped at the capital’s Anglican cathedral in 1968, 1977 and 2002.
The Wellington cathedral’s clergy donned gold and red copes – liturgical vestments – that were made in anticipation of the royal couple’s first visits.
In Parliament last week, politicians paid their respects to the late British royal.
‘‘No matter what your role, no matter what your responsibility, grief spares no-one,’’ Ardern told the House.
‘‘Prince Philip added to the world, he added to Britain, he added to the Commonwealth,’’ Opposition leader Judith Collins said.