Prince Philip funeral ‘a profound chance for Queen to say goodbye’on April 16, 2021 at 11:19 am

The Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral will be a “profound” chance for the Queen to say farewell to her husband of 73 years, the Archbishop of Canterbury has said.

“She will behave with the extraordinary dignity, extraordinary courage that she always does,” Justin Welby said.

Prince Philip’s funeral will take place at St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle at 15:00 BST on Saturday.

The duke’s children will walk alongside his hearse during the procession.

At the ceremony, there will only be 30 mourners in line with coronavirus restrictions.

Buckingham Palace said the Queen had faced “some very difficult” decisions in selecting the mourners from the 800-strong congregation originally planned, and she wanted all branches of her husband’s family to be represented.

Speaking to the BBC, Mr Welby said: “We really have to avoid judging from anything external. She’s the Queen. She will behave with the extraordinary dignity, extraordinary courage that she always does.

“And at the same time she is saying farewell to someone to whom she was married for 73 years. I think that must be a very, very profound thing… in anybody’s life.”

The archbishop, who will pronounce the blessing at the funeral service, suggested that people of faith could pray for the Queen, or alternatively “sympathise and in their hearts offer their condolences to her and the hope for her to find strength in what must be an anguished moment”.

Earlier, the head of the UK’s armed forces said the funeral will have the duke’s “fingerprints [all] over it” and it “reflects his wide interests and his attention to detail”.

“It’s obviously been slightly affected by Covid, but nonetheless it will reflect military precision,” said Gen Sir Nick Carter, chief of defence staff.

Among the funeral details that Prince Philip was involved in is the specially-modified Land Rover hearse, which the duke helped to design over 16 years. He requested it be repainted in military green and helped to design the open top rear of the car.

The duke also personally selected the regalia – medals, decorations and insignia – that will be on the altar for his funeral.

Sir Nick hailed the “extraordinary war record” of Prince Philip – who served in the Royal Navy in World War Two – and the dozens of different military decorations and awards he had.

“I think people will realise that this is a life worth looking into and I think they will be surprised by what he achieved and what he did in his 99 years,” he said.

The Queen has decided that there will be no military uniforms worn by members of the Royal Family, and those attending will instead wear morning coats with medals, or day dress.

Helena Wilkinson, news correspondent in Windsor

The spring sun is shining down on Windsor Castle today, the day before the duke’s journey to his final resting place.

This is a town used to big royal events, but tomorrow it will be different. There won’t be the crowds we would have seen in normal times.

Buses carrying military personnel have been going into the castle this morning. There will be a full rehearsal within the grounds later.

Everything will be practised to perfection, just as the duke would have wanted.

Outside the castle there are dozens of marshals, helping direct people.

Street sweepers have also been clearing the road close by. Gardeners too have been spotted through the castle gates mowing the lawn outside the chapel where the funeral will take place.

On a red post box someone has left two knitted dolls of the Queen and duke, he with his arm around his wife.

A little further away, on the Long Walk, most of the flowers left by the public have been moved inside the castle grounds.

A few remain. One with a card which reads: “Great man, greatly missed, from friends around the world”

Prince Philip died at Windsor Castle on Friday 9 April aged 99. His body is now resting in the castle’s private chapel.

The procession to the funeral service will be headed by the Band of the Grenadier Guards, followed by the Household Division and military service chiefs.

The duke’s four children – the Prince of Wales, the Princess Royal, the Duke of York and the Earl of Wessex – as well as his grandsons the Duke of Cambridge, Duke of Sussex and Peter Phillips will be among those walking behind the coffin.

The Queen will travel with a lady-in-waiting in the state Bentley at the end of the procession, and enter the chapel by a side door.

In line with Covid lockdown rules, the 30-person congregation inside the chapel will put on masks and socially distance, with the Queen seated alone.

Royal historian Professor Kate Williams said she thought it will be “a very striking image” to see the Queen sitting alone rather than with the other mourners.

“They’ll be wearing masks and sitting in their bubbles in St George’s Chapel. And the Queen doesn’t have a bubble, the bubble was Prince Philip,” she told BBC Breakfast.

The other mourners include the Duchess of Cornwall and the Duchess of Cambridge as well as all of the duke’s grandchildren and their spouses, apart from the Duchess of Sussex, who is heavily pregnant and will remain in the US.

The children of the Queen’s sister Princess Margaret will also be in attendance, along with Bernhard, the Hereditary Prince of Baden; Donatus, Prince and Landgrave of Hesse; and Prince Philipp of Hohenlohe-Langenburg.

Philip’s carriage driving partner and one of his closest friends – the Countess Mountbatten of Burma, previously known as Lady Romsey and later Lady Brabourne – will also be in attendance.

The 67-year-old countess is the wife of Earl Mountbatten, Norton Knatchbull – the grandson of Prince Philip’s uncle the 1st Earl Mountbatten, who was killed by the IRA in 1979.

A Downing Street spokesman said Prime Minister Boris Johnson will watch the funeral on television from his country residence Chequers.

The full order of the funeral service, which will be conducted by the Dean of Windsor, will be released on Friday evening.

Read more: Who is going to Prince Philip’s funeral?

Royal Family tree and line of succession

HRH The Duke of Edinburgh Remembered: BBC One, Friday 16 April, 19:00-20:05

The Funeral of HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh: BBC One, Saturday 17 April, 12:30-16:20 and 20:10-21:10

The funeral will also be broadcast on Saturday 17 April from 14:00-16:10 on Radio 4 and Radio 5 Live, BBC World Service English, BBC Radio Scotland and BBC Radio Ulster.

It will also be broadcast on BBC Radio Wales and BBC local radio with some variation in start times.