REIGNING TEARS
Grieving Queen is forced to sit alone at husband’s funeral
The Queen wiped away tears as she was forced to sit alone to say her last goodbye to her beloved Prince Philip.
After a week of rearranging long-held funeral plans for the Duke of Edinburgh due to the coronavirus crisis, the monarch bowed in solemn prayer while gunshots rang out at 3pm yesterday for a national moment of remembrance.
Dressed in a face mask and in sombre black, it was the first time the Queen, grieving for her devoted companion of 73 years, appeared in public since Philip, 99, died nine days ago.
Her Majesty cut a solitary yet defiant figure in extraordinary and poignant circumstances due to the pandemic. But after a lifetime of walking behind the
Queen, it was the
Duke’s turn to take precedence for the first and, sadly, the last time.
Amid the backdrop of a glorious spring day at Windsor Castle, the 50-minute service at the magnificent St George’s Chapel followed precise instructions left by Philip.
His simple oak coffin, draped in his striking 12ft personal standard and decorated with a wreath chosen by the Queen, accompanied his Admiral of the Fleet Naval Cap and sword given to him by the Queen’s father when they married.
For his f inal journey, his family members, including an emotional Prince Charles, followed behind Grenadier Guardsmen who carefully placed the Duke’s coffin on to the rear of a green Land Rover Defender hearse he designed himsel f . More than 700 members of the armed forces took part in the ceremony to honour the duke’s long association with the military and his distinguished service in the Navy during World War II.
The haunting sounds of music hand-picked by Philip, including bugle players and naval hymns, rang out from the largely deserted gothic landscape.
Before the coffin emerged from the castle, military bands spaced out across the quadrangle in brilliant sunshine to play the prince’s chosen music, including I Vow To Thee My Country, Jerusalem and Nimrod.
The awakening Action Stations warship “battle cry” was later sounded by buglers in one of Philip’s final wishes before he departed. The naval tradition, more at home on a warship, served as a poignant reminder to his family, plagued by scandal and infighting in recent times, to “go into battle stations”.
Despite their togetherness this week as they rallied round the Queen, the royals all sat in their own household bubble, the Queen opposite Charles and Camilla closest to the coffin.
Princes William and Harry, who had not seen each other for more than a year, sat opposite each other as they laid their grandpa to rest.
No eulogy was made, in keeping with Philip’s wishes, but the service was further peppered with naval imagery.
A prayer by the Dean of Windsor honoured the Duke, saying: “We praise thy holy name for thy servant Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who has left us a fair pattern of val iant and true knighthood. Grant unto him the assurance of thine ancient promise that thou wilt ever be with those who go down to the sea in ships and occupy their business in great waters.”
The hymn Eternal Father, Strong To Save, sung by a choir of just four due to Covid rules, rang out in tribute to his uncle Lord Mountbatten, his mentor and matchmaker to the Queen before he was murdered in 1979 by the IRA.
As the service drew to a close, the unmistakable sound of The Last Post signified a soldier had gone to his grave, while the Queen appeared to allow herself a last look at Philip’s coffin before it was lowered into the royal vault.
Even in her darkest hour, the Queen hosted a reception for 15 of the 30 mourners at her State Apartments, where she spent her final months with Philip.