A minute’s silence to remember
NATION TO PAUSE FOR PRINCE PHILIP BEFORE HIS FUNERAL ON SATURDAY
A NATIONAL minute’s silence will be held at 3pm on Saturday ahead of the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral.
Following a period of national mourning this week, the ceremony will take place on April 17 entirely within the grounds of Windsor Castle – with the public urged to stay away from the area because of the pandemic.
Proceedings will begin at 2.40pm when the duke’s coffin will be brought out of the state entrance of Windsor Castle, before it is placed on to a specially modified Land Rover, which Philip helped to design, to transport it to nearby St George’s Chapel.
It is estimated the procession will take eight minutes, with the Prince of Wales and other members of the royal family leading on foot, immediately behind the duke’s coffin, together with staff from Philip’s household.
The procession route will be lined by representatives drawn from the Royal Navy, the Royal Marines, the Highlanders, 4th Battalion Royal Regiment of Scotland and the Royal Air Force.
Guns will be fired every minute by
the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery from the east lawn of Windsor Castle for the duration of the procession and the Curfew Tower Bell will toll.
A Guard of Honour and Band from The Rifles will then receive the coffin at the foot of the West Steps, with the national anthem being played as the coffin enters Horseshoe Cloister.
A bearing party of Royal Marines will carry the coffin up the steps and
pause for the minute’s silence at 3pm. Following that, the Dean of Windsor, together with the Archbishop of Canterbury, will receive the coffin at the top of the West Steps.
In keeping with coronavirus guidelines, only the royal family and the duke’s private secretary Archie Miller Bakewell will enter the chapel.
Under lockdown rules, only 30 people may attend the funeral and they are expected to wear masks. The guest list is not yet revealed.
After the service, the duke will be privately interred in the Royal Vault of St George’s Chapel. But when the Queen dies, Philip will be transferred to the gothic church’s King George VI memorial chapel to lie alongside his wife of 73 years. The tiny chapel houses the remains of the Queen’s father George VI, her mother the Queen Mother and her sister Princess Margaret. Businesses will be allowed to stay open during the funeral, although most sporting fixtures scheduled then are expected to be rearranged. Former Archbishop of York Dr John Sentamu said the plans showed the royal family were no ‘different in grief to anybody else’. He told The Andrew Marr Show: ‘They want to be part of the grieving for the nation, for the many people who died from Covid-19 and for those who have not been able to be present when their loved one is being buried.’
He added: ‘The BBC are going to be broadcasting it so everybody in their homes throughout the world will be able to participate in that service.’