Friday, March 29, 2024

A final farewell to Prince Philip

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Queen Elizabeth and her family paid their last respects to Prince Philip at a funeral on Saturday that celebrated his naval past, his international heritage and seven decades of service in which he helped guide the queen through repeated crises.

Elizabeth, dressed in black and in a white trimmed black mask, stood alone as her husband of 73 years was lowered into the Royal Vault in a service attended by senior royals including heir Prince Charles and his sons Princes William and Harry.

The queen was placed alone in the ceremony at St George’s Chapel with her children, grandchildren and a select group of royal mourners, separated due to COVID-19 rules.

“We remember before thee this day Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, rendering thanks unto thee – for his resolute faith and loyalty, for his high sense of duty and integrity,” Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby said in a prayer.

Philip, officially known as the Duke of Edinburgh, died aged 99 on April 9. The queen in 1997 described Philip as her “strength and stay” over their decades of marriage.

The archbishop praised Philip’s “life of service to the nation and Commonwealth, and for the courage and inspiration of his leadership”.

After the nation observed a minute’s silence in brilliant sunshine, Harry and William took up their places on opposite sides of the chapel in Windsor Castle, with the final resting place of Tudor monarch Henry VIII dividing them.

Philip’s naval cap and sword lay on top of the coffin, which was covered with the Duke of Edinburgh’s personal standard featuring the Danish coat of arms, the Greek cross, Edinburgh Castle and the stripes of the Mountbatten family.

A wreath of white roses, lilies and jasmine from the 94-year-old queen also adorned the coffin.

The four-person choir sang a sailors’ hymn, Eternal Father, Strong to Save, and shortly before he was lowered into the Royal Vault, the Russian Kontakion of the Departed, a hymn of the Orthodox and Eastern churches, echoed around the ancient church. There were no eulogies.

Philip’s coffin was borne to the chapel on a bespoke Defender TD 130 in military green as a minute gun fired eight times.

Members of the military march on the grounds of the Windsor Castle as the Royal Standard flag flutters on the day of the funeral of Britain’s Prince Philip, husband of Queen Elizabeth. (Reuters)

Before the procession, military bands spaced out across the quadrangle of Windsor Castle to play the prince’s chosen music, including I Vow To Thee My Country, Jerusalem and Nimrod.

Philip, who married Elizabeth in 1947, helped the young queen adapt the monarchy to the changing world of the post-World War Two era as the loss of empire and the decline of deference challenged the world’s most prominent royal family.

Mourners eschewed the tradition of wearing military uniforms, a step newspapers said was to prevent embarrassment to Harry, who despite serving two tours in Afghanistan during his army career, is not be entitled to wear a uniform because he was stripped of his honorary military titles.

Prince Andrew, who stepped down from public duties in 2019 over controversy surrounding his what he termed his “ill-judged” association with late U.S. financier Jeffrey Epstein, had wanted to wear an admiral’s uniform at the funeral, media reported.

The palace emphasised beforehand that while the occasion would have the due pageantry that marks the passing of a senior royal, it remained an occasion for a mourning family to mark the passing of a husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather.

There were just 30 mourners inside the chapel for the service because of continuing coronavirus restrictions in Britain.

Philip’s dedication to his duty earned him widespread popularity in Britain, but he was also criticised by some for a number of off-the-cuff racist or abrupt comments which shocked princes, priests and presidents.

“He was authentically himself, with a seriously sharp wit, and could hold the attention of any room due to his charm and also because you never knew what he might say next,” Harry said of his grandfather.

Philip was a decorated Royal Navy veteran of World War Two and his funeral, much of which was planned in meticulous detail by the prince himself, had a strong military feel, with personnel from across the armed forces playing prominent roles.

The hearse, a specially modified Land Rover, and the Royal Family walk near St George’s Chapel during the funeral of Britain’s Prince Philip. (Reuters)

ROYAL FAMILY:

Queen Elizabeth.

Prince Charles; Princess Anne; Prince Andrew; Prince Edward – the children of the queen and Philip.

The children’s spouses: Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall; Vice Admiral Tim Laurence; Sophie, the Countess of Wessex.

The couple’s grandchildren: Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, and his wife Kate; Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex; James, Viscount Severn; Louise Mountbatten-Windsor; Peter Phillips; Zara Tindall and husband Mike; Princess Beatrice and husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi; Princess Eugenie and husband Jack Brooksbank.

Lady Sarah Chatto, the daughter of the queen’s sister Princess Margaret, and her husband Daniel; David Armstrong-Jones, the Earl of Snowdon, Margaret’s son.

Prince Edward, the Duke of Kent, the queen’s cousin; Prince Richard, the Duke of Gloucester, the queen’s cousin. Princess Alexandra, Lady Ogilvy, the queen’s cousin.

PHILIP’S FAMILY

Bernhard, Hereditary Prince of Baden, Philip’s great-nephew; Prince Donatus, Landgrave of Hesse, a great-nephew by marriage of Philip’s youngest sister; Prince Philipp of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, Philip’s great-nephew; Penelope Knatchbull, Countess Mountbatten of Burma, a close friend of Philip’s. (Reuters)

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