UK lawmakers gather in special sessions to laud Prince Philip
London, UK - Lawmakers across the UK convened Monday to pay tribute to Prince Philip, whose death at 99 years of age has left a ‘huge void’ in the life of Queen Elizabeth II.
The UK parliament in London was returning a day early from its Easter break to pay respects to Philip, who spent 73 years at the side of Britain’s longest-reigning monarch.
Devolved legislatures in Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast were also holding special sessions, but political campaigning for UKwide local elections next month was resuming after a pause to mark Philip’s passing.
Prince Andrew said Sunday his 94 year old mother was ‘incredibly stoic’ but had been hit hard by the death of the Duke of Edinburgh, whom he described as ‘the grandfather of the nation’.
“She described it as having left a huge void in her life,” the couple’s second son said after a church service at Windsor Castle, west of London, where Philip died on Friday. The Queen’s eldest son and heir, Prince Charles, on Saturday paid his own heartfelt tribute to his ‘dear Papa’, saying he and the royal family missed him ‘enormously’.
Vanuatu worshippers
Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon joins Scottish political party leaders during a motion of condolence following the death of Britain’s Prince Philip, at the Scottish Parliament Building in Edinburgh on Monday
Philip’s death has been marked across the 54-nation Commonwealth, and nowhere more emotionally than the Pacific nation of Vanuatu.
For decades, inhabitants of
two villages in the hinterland of the lush volcanic island of Tanna have venerated Philip as a deity.
Yakel village chief Albi said it was unclear whether the religious movement would now turn to worship Prince Charles or his sons, William and Harry.
“The spirit of Prince Philip has left his body, but it lives on - it is too soon to say where it will reside,” he told AFP.
Harry, the Duke of Sussex, was reportedly back in the UK and undergoing coronavirus quarantine ahead of Saturday’s funeral. His wife Meghan is heavily pregnant with their second child and has remained in California, where the couple now re
side after quitting royal duties and speaking out bitterly against their life in the family.
Brothers reunited
Prince Philip’s death triggered eight days of official mourning, which ends with his funeral at St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle.
Public elements of the ceremony have been eliminated to avoid crowds gathering during the coronavirus pandemic, while the congregation at the chapel is limited to just 30.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson opted against attending, to free up a place for a member of family.
The funeral service, which will be televised, will be keenly watched for signs of strain - or reconciliation - between Harry (36) and William (38).
The brothers had been expected to meet in July for the first time since Harry moved to the US, at the unveiling of a statue of their late mother, Princess Diana, on what would have been her 60th birthday.
The Sun on Sunday newspaper said the pair would walk behind their grandfather’s coffin in a funeral procession in the castle grounds, as they did as young boys at their mother’s 1997 funeral.