Delicate compromise over funeral dress code

THE upcoming funeral for the Duke of Edinburgh and specifically the issue of dress code was discussed by columnists in the newspapers.

Daily Mail

Richard Kay said not one member of the royal family will be in ceremonial uniform for the funeral after a

“delicate compromise” was reached.

“The reason? A question of uniforms for two royal dukes,” he said. “The two dukes, of course, are Prince Andrew and Prince Harry, both semi-detached from royal life yet both with a compelling hold on a military heritage.” He said Prince Andrew had made clear that he wished to wear the uniform of an admiral, the rank he was awarded by the Queen on his 60th birthday – provoking unease – but the major focus was on Prince Harry.

“Harry’s decision to give up royal life and move to California… meant he had to surrender his treasured honorary military titles,” he pointed out. “Philip was the great pragmatist of the royal family. Might he not also have thought how much better if his funeral were a vessel for agreement rather than one of dissent?”

The Independent

Sean O’grady said “uniformgate2, “as we should probably start calling it”, has arisen because Prince Harry was “stripped of all his highfalutin’ titles and military ranks when he Megxited the royal family.”

“He’s only allowed to wear his tatty old army captain’s uniform,” he said. “He’d look like a bell boy standing next to the likes of, for example, Prince Andrew, who was going to be in full fig as an admiral of the fleet.” Sense has prevailed, he said, and the entire family is “scaling down” to lounge suits.

The Guardian

Afua Hirsch said that within minutes of Prince Philip’s death having been announced, she began receiving messages from friends in Ghana. “My sincere condolences for your loss,” one said. “May God bless you and everyone in the UK who is grieving,”

She was puzzled as to why it was her loss, she said. “The unspoken requirement for us to publicly celebrate the monarchy’s gains – or mourn any of its losses – demands that I internalise a history of violence and racism against my own ancestors,” she added. “The instinct I still feel to apologise for not doing so is evidence of how strongly those forces still exist. So if there is a fitting tribute to the passing of Prince Philip, I believe it would be to learn – with honesty – the lessons from both his life and the reaction to his death.”