It was meant to be so much grander

PRINCE PHILIP had requested a ‘no-fuss’ funeral with an aide once reportedly saying he ‘did not see himself as important enough’ to lie in state.

According to protocol, as the Queen’s consort, the Duke will still be honoured with a ceremonial Royal funeral, as the Queen Mother was given in 2002 and Princess Diana in 1997. But the pandemic means the send-off will be even more low-key with the expected guest list of 800 people reduced to 30 close family and friends.

The original plans were drawn up years ago under the code name Operation Forth Bridge. His coffin should have been transported from St George’s Chapel in Windsor to the Chapel Royal at St James’s Palace in London. There, the Royal Family and Household would have been able to pay their respects.

A book of condolence would also have been opened at Buckingham Palace and other Royal locations. The day before the funeral, his coffin – surmounted by his Naval sword, cap, personal standard and a wreath of flowers – would have been moved from the Chapel Royal to the Queen’s Chapel within St James’s Palace. The Prince of Wales and members of the Duke of Edinburgh’s household would have been present.

At 12.15pm on the day of the funeral, eight days after the death, Prince Philip would have begun his final journey out of London. The coffin would have been moved to Wellington Arch on a gun carriage and transferred to a Royal Navy Land Rover. At 12.45pm, the procession would have departed the capital for Windsor by road, where it was scheduled to have driven through the Berkshire town before arrival at the castle. The procession would have been accompanied by the Royal Naval Pipers and the Duke of Edinburgh Rifles. Plans to have a mixed age choir of 12 men and up to 23 boys have also had to be abandoned.

The occupancy inside St George’s Chapel is 1,000 and the guest list was due to include representatives from foreign royal families, Great offices of State, Parliament, the Diplomatic Corp, the Civil and Diplomatic Service, charities the Duke was involved with and his Household staff. The plans took years to arrange and the Duke was understood to have been wryly amused that many of those involved ended up dying before him.