Duke’s friend
ONE of the Duke of Edinburgh’s closest confidantes, carriage-driving companion Countess Mountbatten of Burma, will be one of the mourners at his funeral.
Penelope “Penny” Knatchbull, 67, previously Lady Romsey and later Lady Brabourne, will join the Royal Family at the service in St George’s Chapel atWindsor Castle tomorrow.
Buckingham Palace said the Queen had faced “some very difficult” decisions, as she selected the guests permitted under Covid-19 restrictions, from the original 800-strong congregation – and had tried to ensure all branches of Philip’s family were there.
The process of whittling down the guest list to 30 has been a painful one for the monarch.
She has had to ask her relatives and senior members of the Royal Household, among others, to stand aside and allow those closest to Philip to attend his funeral.
A source explained yesterday: “There are some very senior people who wanted to go and who were told they couldn’t. But they have accepted that.”
As the Daily Express revealed yesterday, the final list of mourners includes representatives of Prince Philip’s German family.
But their presence has meant some members of the Royal Family have had to give way to comply with the Government’s Covid restrictions limiting the number of mourners at a funeral to 30.
So there is no room for the Duchesses of Gloucester and Kent, whose husbands are the
Queen’s cousins and have supported her in her official duties during her 69-year reign.
Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, who do not undertake official duties for the monarch but often attend family occasions, are also absent from the guest list.
A less surprising absence is Prince Andrew’s ex-wife, Sarah, Duchess of York.
The Duke of Edinburgh had good days and bad days, but even after he left hospital on March 16 after a month of treatment, his family and staff were working on the assumption he would make it to his 100th birthday in June.
It is not clear how much discussion he had about arranging a Covid funeral for 30, but Buckingham Palace officials suggested yesterday it was left to the Queen to interpret some of his wishes.
A palace spokesman said: “The duke clearly had sat down and everyone was aware of very detailed plans. I don’t feel comfortable talking about when the last discussions and all those sort of discussions took place.
“As with any other family, sadly, at a passing, it’s the family who have to implement those wishes in the best way they can.”
But one of Philip’s dearest wishes was that his German relatives – banned from his wedding to the then Princess Elizabeth in November 1947 because of anti-German sentiment in the aftermath of the Second World War – should be represented at the funeral.
His four sisters, princesses of Greece and Denmark, married German aristocrats, three of whom took senior positions in the Nazi party.
One of the sisters, Cecilie, died in a plane crash in 1937 and Philip found himself on opposing sides in the Second World War to others as well.
Decisions
But following the war and the royal wedding snub, the duke vowed he would never again exclude them from his life.
He frequently flew to Germany for family occasions and invited them and their descendants to come and stay at Windsor Castle or other royal residences.
Now the Queen has done right by her husband more than 73 years after that snub.
The palace spokesman said: “Her Majesty wanted to ensure that all branches of the duke’s family were there and had to make, I think it is fair to say, some very difficult decisions about who would be there.”