The Duke of Edinburgh's funeral ceremony will take place at St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle
The funeral of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, will be in the form of a royal, but not a state funeral, and there will be no public farewell ceremony, as Philip himself wanted. This was announced by the Court Heraldic Chamber.
The Heraldic Chamber announced that until the funeral, the body of Prince Philip will remain in the Royal Windsor Palace near London, while the funeral ceremony will be held there, in St. George's Chapel.
The royal court “regrets” asks the public not to attend the funeral in connection with the pandemic.
According to the BBC, Queen Elizabeth II intends to hold her husband's funeral in a modified ceremony due to the pandemic.
Buckingham Palace is expected to provide more details shortly.
From today until 8 am the next day after the funeral, flags will be lowered on all government buildings in Britain.
Public farewell ceremonies with human access to the body were held at the funerals of the three previous close relatives of the monarch. In 2002, about 200 thousand people came to say goodbye to the Queen Mother's coffin in the Parliament building in Westminster in three days.
But the Heraldic Chamber, which organizes state ceremonies, announced that the funeral of the Duke of Edinburgh will be held in accordance with tradition, but also in accordance with the wishes of Prince Philip himself.
Philip's aide once said that he “did not consider himself important enough” for a state funeral.
Usually the state funeral ceremony was held in the event of the death of the monarch himself.
At the royal funeral ceremony, for example, the Queen Mother and Princess Diana were buried – although she divorced the heir to the throne, Charles and formally lost the title of “Her Royal Highness.”
The royal funeral ceremony is also due to the heirs to the throne and members of the royal family who have high military rank.
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On rare occasions, by the decision of the king (queen) and parliament, state funerals were also arranged for prominent figures who were not monarchs. In the 19th century, this honor was awarded to the naval commander Lord Horatio Nelson, in the 20th century – to Winston Churchill.
However, the difference between state and royal funerals lies in protocol subtleties, and both ceremonies can include, for example. a military funeral procession and a farewell to the body open to all.
The royal court, of course, prepared in advance for the death of the Duke of Edinburgh. The funeral script was codenamed Forth Bridge, and according to it, thousands of people were expected to attend the funeral in London and Windsor, some may even spend the night outside, so as not to give in to good vantage points from where the military procession could be seen.
In this scenario, hundreds of military personnel would be lined up along the streets along which the procession would have passed, and thousands of police officers would have guarded the order.
But with the onset of the pandemic, plans had to be changed.
According to information from the royal palace, Elizabeth II now intends to conduct the ceremony in such a way as not to attract crowds and comply with the requirements of lockdown and social distancing.
At the current stage of lockdown in England, no more than 30 people can gather for funerals.
