CHARLES: MY DEAR PAPA WAS SO VERY SPECIAL
Harry but no Meghan at funeral ... and Duke will be carried to chapel in a Land Rover he helped to design
THE Prince of Wales last night paid an emotional tribute to his ‘dear Papa’, praising his ‘remarkable, devoted service’ to the Queen, his family and his country.
In a moving off- the- cuff speech delivered on behalf of the Royal Family, Charles described Prince Philip as a ‘ very special person’ who would ‘have been amazed by the reaction and the touching things… said about him’.
His comments came as Buckingham Palace released details of the Duke’s funeral on Saturday, which will involve his coffin being carried to St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle in a modified Land Rover, which he had helped to design. The Mail on Sunday can reveal
that the Duke, who wanted minimal fuss following his death, would tell the Queen when discussing his funeral: ‘Just stick me in the back of a Land Rover and drive me to Windsor.’
Only 30 members of Royal Family – including Prince Harry, but not his pregnant wife Meghan, who has been told not to fly by her doctors – will attend the service, which will follow a national minute’s silence at 3pm.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has given up his place to allow an additional relative to attend.
While the relationship between Charles and his father was complex, his evident emotion yesterday showed how close the pair had become over the past year. During a bedside conversation at the King Edward VII’s hospital in Central London in February, the Duke asked his son to care for the Queen when he was gone and advised him on how to steer the Royal Family through the years ahead.
In other developments on the second day of national mourning since the Duke’s death on Friday: ● The Queen was said to bearing up well, with a tearful Countess of Wessex telling well-wishers that the Monarch ‘has been amazing’ after visiting her at Windsor with husband Prince Edward. Prince Andrew and Princess Anne also visited yesterday; ● A gun salute of 41 shots rang out from land and sea, home and abroad, in honour of the
‘Just stick me in the back of a Land Rover’
Duke, including the same gun in Woolwich Barracks, SouthEast London, that marked his wedding to the Queen in 1947; ● Church bells rang out 99 times in his memory; ● Two-minute silences were held at major sporting events including the Grand National at Aintree, where jockeys wore black armbands, and at football matches; ● The Duke of Cambridge withdrew from this weekend’s B aft a awards, where he had been due to deliver a speech virtually;
● Labour leader SirKeir St arm er was accused of breaching protocol by rushing out his condolence message ahead of the Prime Minister; ● Monarchs, heads of state and prime ministers across the world sent heartfelt tributes, with US President Joe Biden hailing the Duke as a ‘heck of a guy’ and Pope Francis praising his ‘devotion to his marriage and family’.
In his address, Prince Charles said the Royal Family had been ‘deeply touched’ by those around the world who shared ‘our loss and our sorrow’. He added: ‘It will sustain us in this particular loss and at this particularly sad time.’ Buckingham Palace said the funeral arrangements ‘ very much’ reflect Prince Philip’s wishes and have been adapted in light of the coronavirus pandemic. The procession will take place behind the walls of Windsor Castle and courtiers urged the public not to travel in person, but instead watch on TV.
A Palace spokesman said: ‘While this is naturally a time of sadness and mourning for the Royal Family and the many others who knew or admired the Duke of Edinburgh, it is hoped that the coming days will also be seen as an opportunity to celebrate a remarkable life – remarkable both in terms of his vast contribution and lasting legacy.’
Premier League f ootball matches scheduled for next Saturday are also expected to be moved to avoid clashing with the 3pm funeral.
While the Duke ‘knew he was on the home stretch’ – as one courtier put it – the end was fairly sudden. In the three weeks since he left hospital, during which he was largely bed-bound, his condition did not seem to have significantly changed. Indeed, sources suggested that on Wednesday his health was thought to have improved slightly.
While Buckingham Palace was unwilling to offer any clarity on his final hours, some sources suggested the Duke died peacefully in his sleep and was found by his valet early on Friday morning.
The Duke’s en-suite bedroom, linked to the Queen’s by a dressing room, overlooked Windsor Castle’s East Terrace Garden, where his wife had grown vegetables during the war and which Philip himself redesigned in the 1970s. While not unexpected, the Duke’s death was no less of a blow. The Queen had steeled herself but after more than 70 momentous years of marriage her loss, as an aide noted, can only be imagined. In addition to being her great love, the Duke was her compass and confidant.
On Friday, confirmation of death by the on-call Royal doctor set in train a much-polished plan. The news was relayed to the Prime Minister and relevant arms of Government via the message ‘Forth Bridge is down’ – the official codeword for the Duke’s death.
Yesterday, the Royal Family shared a moving quote from the Queen about her husband from a speech made to mark their Golden Wedding anniversary in 1997. ‘He has, quite simply, been my strength and stay all these years, and I, and his whole family, and this and many other countries, owe him a debt greater than he would ever claim, or we shall ever know.’
‘A chance to celebrate a remarkable life’
SHE had just galloped into the history books ks as the first woman to win the Grand National al – so no wonder Rachael Blackmore struggled ed to sum up her achievement.
‘I don’t feel male or female right now,’ the elated ed jockey told reporters. ‘I don’t even feel human.’ .’
The Irish rider, regarded as the ‘reluctant nt heroine’ of horse racing, had also left bookkmakers struggling for words by winning at Aintree on the heavily supported 11/1 shot ot Minella Times, with an estimated £100 million n being wagered on the race.
An emotional Rachael sought to play down her r triumph in the world’s most famous horse race, e, saying: ‘There’s plenty left to conquer. I’ll be riding in the next race but I’ll be floating.’
The teetotal 31-year-old daughter of a dairy farmer and schoolteacher from County Tipperary won on the Irish-trained Minella Times just a few weeks after becoming the first female rider to win the prestigious top jockey prize at the Cheltenham Festival.
There were no spectators to applaud her at the Merseyside track because of coronavirus protocols, but her historic achievement was not lost on the jockeys, trainers and owners in attendance who cheered the rider and horse back into the winners’ enclosure.
After last year’s race was cancelled because of the pandemic, the 173rd Grand National saw 40 runners come under the starter’s orders after observing two minutes’ silence in honour of Prince Philip. Rachael, one of three female riders in the race, was one of the pre-race favourites.
She has enjoyed a late, meteoric rise to the top after only winning her first Grade 1 race in 2019 and is now being hailed as the best jockey in Ireland by legends of the sport such as Tony McCoy and Ruby
Walsh. Dedicated to her profession, Rachael and her boyfriend Brian Hayes share a house in Ireland with Patrick Mullins, son of legendary Irish horse trainer Willie.
Patrick Mullins revealed her enthusiasm for baking as a way to relieve stress. ‘When I moved in, Brian and I would have been going racing most days,’ he said.
‘Rachael wasn’t. She used to do a lot of baking on those days – which was like her way of punching the wall.’
On her winning mentality, Mr Mullins said: ‘ When things went wrong it would annoy her for a long time. She’d come home, watch the replay, rewind it, watch it again. She’s got better at handling defeat. She has the maturity on the big day to be able to handle whatever comes.’
Rachael grew up on a dairy farm run by her father Charles, who also bred horses, while her mother Eimer was a primary schoolteacher.
Rachael got her first horse aged seven and named it Bubbles. ‘In the early days we always had horses at home on the family farm, as well as sheep, so I spent my spare time either looking after pet lambs or riding,’ she recalled. Stars from across the sporting and TV world paid tribute to the triumph ant jockey yesterday, with some fans already calling for her to win the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year award. Broadcaster Clare Balding tweeted: ‘ Rachael Blackmore makes history. Fabulous.’ And Piers Morgan praised her ‘stunning achievement’.
I don’t feel male or female right now… I don’t even feel human