Ceremony – weddings, christenings, funerals, coronations – is what the British royals do best in public, and with roughly 10 centuries worth of experience, it’s no …
Ceremony – weddings, christenings, funerals, coronations – is what the British royals do best in public, and with roughly 10 centuries worth of experience, it’s no wonder. Now we’re about to see how they do a major funeral during a pandemic, when Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, is laid to rest on Saturday. The royal ceremonial funeral for Queen Elizabeth II’s husband of 73 years, who died April 9 at Windsor Castle at age 99, will combine antique tradition, the restraints of the coronavirus pandemic, the transcendence of the Church of England funeral rite and the idiosyncratic « no fuss » personality of the « Iron Duke » himself. The duke’s final sendoff, which he helped devise, will be much reduced from the usual ceremonial funeral (like the Queen Mother’s in 2002 and Princess Diana’s in 1997) as a result COVID-19, and it won’t be in London but within the sprawling confines of Windsor Castle. Like most funerals of the last year, Prince Philip’s has been put at a distance for the public: Mourners can’t line up for hours to sign condolence books, as they did by the hundreds of thousands in 1997; they’re asked to go online instead. They’ve been asked not to gather to lay flowers in front of royal palaces as they did in 1997 by the millions; they’ve done so regardless. The flowers are collected every night and transferred to Marlborough House, the London headquarters of the Commonwealth. Most disappointing, they won’t get to participate in an act of mass mourning, lining the streets of London to watch and weep as the coffin trundles by. Here’s what to expect, based on announcements from Buckingham Palace and reports by the BBC, which will be televising the funeral. Shortly before 10 a.m. EST, Prince Philip’s coffin – covered in his personal royal standard and topped with his sword, naval cap and a wreath of flowers – will be moved from the private chapel at the castle where it has been since his death, to the State Entrance of the castle. It will be brought into the castle Quadrangle and placed on a customized Land Rover, one the duke helped design. Led by a military band and accompanied by military chiefs of staff, the cortège will move down the hill, flanked by pallbearers from the military and his staff, to St. George’s Chapel, the mini-cathedral where the service will be. The half-mile route will be lined by more military personnel from all services, guns will be fired from the East Lawn every minute throughout and a bell will toll in one of the towers at the west end of the castle. As the coffin is borne up the West Steps, at 10 a.m. EST, a national minute of silence will commence. At the top of the steps the coffin will be met by the Dean of Windsor, the Archbishop of Canterbury and an honor guard and a military band, which will play the national anthem. Members of the Household Cavalry will line the steps and Royal Navy pipers will pipe a nautical call, « the Still, » as the coffin is carried up the steps.
