‘It is with deep sorrow’ ... moment a monarch – and her nation – went into mourning
THE Queen was last night grieving the shattering loss of her ‘beloved husband’ of 73 years.
The Duke of Edinburgh died peacefully in his private apartment at Windsor Castle – two months and a day before what would have been his 100th birthday.
As tributes poured in from around the world, Buckingham Palace’s focus was on the Royal Family’s aching personal bereavement. ‘They are a family in mourning,’ one official said last night.
Prince Philip’s death at the age of 99 was announced at noon yesterday in a short but poignant statement from Windsor Castle.
It read: ‘It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen announces the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
‘His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle. Further announcements will be made in due course. The Royal Family join with people around the world in mourning his loss.’
Their grief was such that there was no immediate personal reaction from the wider Royal Family. But in a previously recorded tribute to his father, Philip’s youngest son Prince Edward told ITV: ‘My parents have been such a fantastic support to each other during all those years and all those events and all those tours and events overseas. To have someone that you confide in and smile about things that you perhaps could not in public.
‘ To be able to share that is immensely important.’
Recalling his humour ‘ which always came through and the twinkle in his eye’, Edward added that he would remember his father ‘for what he has done in his public life for all the organisations he has supported and influenced’.
Philip’s daughter Princess Anne told the broadcaster: ‘Without him life will be completely different.’
Harry and Meghan posted a message on their website thanking the duke for his service. ‘You will be greatly missed,’ it read. The prince was last night said to be ‘likely’ to fly from his home in the uS, although it is unclear whether his heavilypregnant wife will join him.
Buckingham Palace declined to go into further detail, but the Daily Mail understands that while the duke was frail and recovering after a month in hospital for an infection and heart surgery, his death was still fairly sudden and unexpected, albeit peaceful. It is believed he was alone at Windsor with his wife and a small coterie of devoted staff.
At around 10.40am there was a flurry of police activity at the castle before Prince Andrew, who lives closest at Royal Lodge on the Windsor estate, arrived at a back entrance to the 94-year-old Queen’s private apartments five minutes later.
Then at 11.15am another family member, believed to be Prince Edward, arrived to console their devastated mother.
Philip’s eldest son, Prince Charles, was seen later in the afternoon, having driven down from Highgrove, his Gloucestershire estate, where he should have been celebrating his 16th wedding anniversary with the Duchess of Cornwall.
A source close to the heir to the throne said he was ‘comforted’ by the fact he and his father had been in touch more regularly than ever in recent weeks and months – and that they ‘had said all the things that needed to be said’.
The source said: ‘It is some small comfort today that the prince was in much more regular contact with his father in recent weeks and months than he otherwise might have been.
‘He was the only family member who was able to visit him in hospital and he was at Windsor as recently as the week before last. They spoke a great deal.’
Friends were at pains to point out that the relationship between father and son was also warmer than it had ever been. One said: ‘The idea that their relationship was strained, certainly in recent years, couldn’t have been further from the truth. And that’s an important thing to remember in all that is being written.
‘There was genuine love, affection and understanding there. Which is all anyone holds dear at the end.’
News of Philip’s death, after being confirmed by the on-call royal doctor and disseminated to members of the Royal Family, was relayed to the Prime Minister and relevant arms of government – via a simple message: ‘Forth Bridge is down’, the official codeword for the Duke of Edinburgh’s death. Around the country, union flags began to be flown at half-mast and will remain so until after the funeral next Saturday.
A period of official mourning has begun that will last for a month.
uniformed staff from the Royal Household and officers in the Armed Forces will wear mourning bands.
Following tradition, a formal notice announcing Philip’s death was posted on the gates at Buckingham Palace by two mask-wearing members of staff. But it was removed within an hour in an effort to deter crowds from forming during a time of pandemic.
Palace officials asked members of the public not to gather outside any royal residence and to consider making a donation to charity instead of leaving flowers. An online book of condolence was set up on the royal website www.royal.uk.
It is likely that Covid requirements will force wholesale changes to the funeral plans, which have been in place for many decades.
Philip’s coffin should have been brought from Windsor to London to lie in state, but such an undertaking, which could attract crowds, is likely to be scrapped. Instead it will remain at Windsor until the funeral.
Philip was the longest-serving consort in British history and retired from public life in 2017, largely moving to Sandringham in Norfolk. At the start of the first lockdown last year he returned to Windsor to be with his wife and according to sources they have since enjoyed some of the happiest months together.
Boris Johnson paid tribute last night to the duke, saying he would be remembered for his ‘steadfast support’ of the Queen.
The Prime Minister added: ‘He was an environmentalist, and a champion of the natural world long before it was fashionable.
‘With his Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme he shaped and inspired the lives of countless young people and at literally tens of thousands of events he fostered their hopes and encouraged their ambitions.’
‘Fantastic support to each other’ ‘Forth Bridge is down ’