Royal Deep Dive: Funerals
I honestly wasn’t planning to write this post and debated if it was too bleak and sad to write, but royal family members don’t pass away that often and I have personally been very interested in learning more about what is expected to honor Prince Philip this weekend.
I’m going to give a general overview of royal funerals, what the difference is between a State Funeral and a normal one, and what to expect if you are watching this weekend, from the guest list to the Covid rules in the UK.
State vs Ceremonial Funerals
Prince Philip will have a ceremonial funeral, rather than a state funeral. He is actually entitled to a state funeral, but he specifically requested not to have one. State funerals require parliamentary approval and funds, and typically include having the coffin brought to Westminster Hall in a horse-drawn gun carriage, where it “lies in state” for several days so that the public can visit and pay their respects. There is then a very large procession to Windsor and St. George’s Chapel.
Ceremonial funerals typically also have a lying in state and a procession, some of the more recent examples of this type are the funerals of Princess Diana, The Queen Mother and Margaret Thatcher.
State funerals are usually reserved for monarchs, although Prime Minister Winston Churchill was given a state funeral.
Besides lying in state, and the procession in the gun carriage, the other big element of all royal funerals is the military presence. This is a huge part of Prince Philip’s plans and I think will seem especially outsized and obvious given that there won’t be public crowds attending or a large group of non-military mourners.
Prince Philip’s Funeral Plans
When and how to watch
The ceremony will take place on Saturday, April 17 at 3 p.m. local time, or 10 a.m. EST. BBC One, the British network, will broadcast the event. NBC News will carry the broadcast beginning at 9:30am on both their network and their streaming service, NBC News Now. CNN will also air the funeral, beginning coverage at 9am EST.
Location
The funeral will take place within the grounds of Windsor Castle, with the service at St George’s Chapel. You may recognize the Chapel from recent royal weddings including Prince Harry and Meghan, and Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank.
If this was a full funeral, and Covid wasn’t impacting it, his coffin would have been transported from St George’s Chapel in Windsor to the Chapel Royal at St James’s Palace in London for the days leading up to the funeral. There, the Royal Family and Household would have been able to pay their respects.
What has been happening leading up to this
The royals have been observing a formal period of mourning, with the Queen and Princess Anne undertaking one or two official engagements that were significant. Covid prevented him from lying in state and the public has not been able to visit. They have been rolling out an incredibly well planned tribute to Prince Philip, releasing new, unseen photographs each day, statements from various family members and celebrating different aspects of his work and life.
Order of Events
2:20pm will start things off with the guests that aren’t walking in the procession heading to the chapel from Windsor castle, that is all of the wives of the sons and grandsons in the procession (Kate, Sophie, Camilla, etc), the female granddaughters and their husbands, and the rest of the attendees.
The procession will begin around 2:40pm, with the coffin being carried out and placed into an electric Land Rover that was specially designed for this instead of a gun carriage (honestly I love that he planned this). Military detachments from units that had special connections with Prince Philip will be standing on the grass of the Quadrangle (he had more than 30 honorary military titles just in the UK). Then the Queen will then leave via car.
At 2:45pm, the procession will begin, led by the Grenadier Guards band, the Major General's Party and military chiefs of staff. The Land Rover will follow, flanked by pallbearers from the Royal Marines (he was the Captain General from 1953-2017) and other regiments and corps, and his former Private Secretary. The royal family will follow the coffin, led by Prince Charles and Princess Anne, then Prince Andrew and Prince Edward, with William, Harry and their cousin Peter Phillips walking together, and finally the Earl of Snowdon (Princess Margaret’s son) and Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence (Anne’s husband).
The route will be lined by personnel from the Royal Navy, Royal Marines, The Highlanders, 4th Battalion Royal Regiment of Scotland and the Royal Air Force. Guns will be fired by The King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery from the East Lawn throughout, as a bell tolls in the Curfew Tower, at the west end of the castle. I’ve read that there are going to be around 700 servicemen and women, which is wild.
The procession will be fairly short and when the Land Rover arrives at St George's Chapel, it will be greeted by a guard of honour and band from the Rifles Regiment, who will play the national anthem. Members of the Household Cavalry will line the West Steps and a Royal Navy "piping party" will pipe a nautical call known as "the Still" as the coffin is carried up the steps to the chapel.
At 3pm, a national minute's silence will be held.
Inside the chapel, the funeral service will begin as the coffin is carried to the Quire, and placed on a platform called a catafalque. The coffin, will be draped with the duke's standard (flag), a wreath and his naval cap and sword on top. The altar will also display his most prominent medals and awards.
The Dean of Windsor will perform the service, and the Archbishop of Canterbury will also be in attendance. Anyone working will be excluded from the 30 since they are there “for work.”
Guest List
The UK has been very strict with their lockdowns and rules, and the royals have to follow these to the T. There will only be 30 people allowed (plus the clergy) and they will have to be socially distanced and wear masks when indoors. The original plans apparently included a guest list of around 800 people. There has been quite a bit of drama over what the family will wear, with rumors that both Prince Andrew and Prince Harry were upset they wouldn’t be in military dress, so the latest is that they will all wear black suits, with the women in black dressed. The expected guest list is:
The Queen and a lady-in-waiting who will sit with her (she can’t sit with anyone else given the “bubble” rules in the UK)
Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall (Camilla)
Princess Anne and Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence
Prince Andrew
Prince Edward and the Countess of Wessex (Sophie)
Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge (Catherine)
Prince Harry
Princess Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi
Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank
Zara (Phillips) Tindall and Mike Tindall
Peter Phillips
Lady Louise Windsor and Viscount Severn (children of the Wessexes and the youngest grandchildren of the Queen and Prince Philip)
Three representatives from his sisters families, Bernhard, Hereditary Prince of Baden, Prince Donatus, Landgrave of Hesse, and Prince Philipp of Hohenlohe-Langenburg
The Duke of Gloucester
The Duke of Kent
Princess Alexandra (honestly the most excited to see her out and about!)
The Earl of Snowdon (Princess Margaret’s son)
Lady Sarah Chatto and her husband David (Princess Margaret’s daughter and husband)
The Countess of Mountbatten Penelope Knatchbull (a very close friend of the Queen and Prince Philip, who was once married to the Earl Mountbatten, Philip’s beloved uncle’s grandson)