QUEEN’S SILENT MOMENT TO SAY FAREWELL
THE Queen will pause for a poignant moment of loving reflection tomorrow before the saddest ceremony of her life.
Aides planning Prince Philip’s funeral have allowed for the brief farewell as the Queen joins the procession atWindsor Castle.
Mourners will then head down the hill from the courtyard to St George’s Chapel in the grounds. The pause will give Her Majesty the chance for a silent few seconds to contemplate her beloved husband before Prince Philip’s
hearse and procession turn to face the direction of the chapel.
Philip’s funeral, scaled back from 800 to 30 mourners and with a reduced choir of four because of Covid restrictions, is still at heart the one he designed for himself and promises to be replete with references to his wartime service in the Royal Navy.
In a personal touch he asked for, Royal Marine buglers will sound Action Stations near the end of the service.
The call, sometimes played at Naval funerals, is sounded on a warship to signal that all hands should go to battle stations.
Philip, who died last Friday, two months short of his 100th birthday, served with distinction as a young Royal Navy lieutenant during the Second World War.
He was present at the Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay in 1945 and was mentioned in dispatches for manning the searchlights on HMS Valiant during a battle off Cape Matapan in Greece in 1941.
Buckingham Palace announced details yesterday of the funeral, which will follow a national minute’s silence at 3pm tomorrow.
Philip’s four children, Charles, Anne, Andrew and Edward, will walk alongside his coffin.
Heart
A palace spokesman said: “We are dealing with, at its heart, a family funeral here, which is of someone who has contributed significantly to the life of this country and many others. But at its heart it is still a family event.”
The Queen, like all the guests, will wear a face mask and sit two metres away from anyone else to comply with Covid-19 guidelines.
She will be sitting by herself in the quire of St George’s Chapel – but for the short car journey from her private quarters at the castle down the hill to the chapel, she will be joined by a lady-in-waiting in the state Bentley.
The monarch, who is 95 on Wednesday, has ruled out broadcasting to the nation tonight.
She did it on the eve of Princess Diana’s funeral in 1997 and also the Queen Mother’s in 2002.
Palace officials and broadcasters had drawn up contingency plans for her to do it again but it is believed the idea was dropped.
Philip’s remains will be interred in the royal vault below the chapel, lowered on a 7ft by 3ft marble slab during the service. But in years to come, after the Queen’s funeral, both coffins will be moved to the King George VI Memorial Chapel within St George’s, where they will be laid to rest alongside the remains of her parents and her sister Princess Margaret.
Under previous plans drawn up several years ago for Philip’s funeral, code-named Operation Forth Bridge, the Royal Family would have taken part in a private service in the royal vault after the main funeral.
But the family will now follow all the Government’s Covid guidelines, meaning only 15 mourners can gather for a wake afterwards.
Palace officials confirmed that men in the royal party will wear morning coats with their medals while the women will wear day dresses. The decision defuses a row over whether Princes Andrew and Harry, the two surviving members of the family to have seen active service, should be allowed to wear uniforms after stepping away from royal duties and military patronages.
Harry, 36, will walk behind his grandfather’s coffin as will William, 38, but they will be joined by their cousin Peter Phillips, Princess Anne’s son, placed between them.
Among the guests are all of the Duke’s children and grandchildren and their spouses, the children of the Queen’s sister Princess Margaret and three of Philip’s German relatives, the Hereditary Prince of Baden, Prince Donatus, Landgrave of Hesse and Prince Philipp of HohenloheLangenburg.
Also invited is Philip’s former carriage driving partner, Countess Mountbatten of Burma.
The Duke personally selected the regalia that will be on the altar.
The medals and decorations conferred on him by the UK and Commonwealth countries – together with his RAF wings and Field Marshal’s baton, will be pre-positioned on nine cushions.
The Duke also included insignia from Denmark and Greece – Order of the Elephant and Order of the Redeemer respectively – in a nod to his heritage.
Stephen Segrave, Secretary of the Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood, said: “The Duke had, I think, 61 decorations and awards from 53 different other countries, and there simply just wasn’t the space to have them all on display.
“If you have to draw the line somewhere, the line was drawn at Commonwealth orders and decorations, and those two countries that are appropriate to the Duke.
“And he certainly had a hand in planning his arrangements, so he would have made the decision.”
Mr Segrave said the chosen insignia would have “absolutely” meant a great deal to Philip.
Yesterday the Kings Troop Royal Horse artillery was seen rehearsing for the ceremony tomorrow.
Meanwhile Boris Johnson said his thoughts were with the Queen as he visited the spot where she first got to know Prince Philip.
The Prime Minister was attending a passing out parade in Devon at the Britannia Royal Naval College at Dartmouth, where the Duke of Edinburgh became an officer in 1940.
Mr Johnson observed a minute’s silence in the Duke’s honour and lit a candle of remembrance.
He said: “We’ve just seen those wonderful cadets become officers themselves and incarnating the finest traditions of the Royal Navy in the way that the Duke did himself.
“...Here in this very garden, the Duke of met the then Princess Elizabeth for the very first time. So, our thoughts are with her again today.”
Philip arrived at the college as a 17-year-old cadet in 1939 and quickly rose through the ranks. Just a few months later he was introduced to the then Princess Elizabeth, who was on a visit with her parents King George VI, Queen Elizabeth and her sister.
Philip was assigned to look after the princesses – and photographs from the day show him playing croquet with his future wife.
Royal watchers said the princess fell head over heels for the handsome cadet, who was described as “showing off” during the visit.
The couple grew close a few years later and married in 1947.
EACH day the nation is reminded why the Duke of Edinburgh commanded such affection. The revelation that he spent 16 years working on his Land Rover hearse – even designing special “stops” to hold the coffin – is utterly in keeping with his character.
His industriousness, can-do spirit and lack of sentimentality were qualities which made him such a splendid companion to the Queen throughout the decades of their magnificent marriage.
He took a keen interest in the formal details of his funeral but he would doubtless also wish that the event would bring Princes William and Harry together. The brothers have been at each others side through days of heartbreak and celebration; it would be deeply sad if strained relations ossify into outright schism.
The passing of Prince Philip has reminded us of the power of the monarchy to exemplify the values which give a nation strength, and he personified the virtues of duty and service.
We hope younger royals will similarly bless Britain, and that they find comfort, renewal, solidarity and encouragement in this poignant family gathering.