The funeral service for Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh and husband of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, will be held on April 17, Buckingham Palace said on Saturday, confirming that Prince Harry was planning to attend.
The service for Philip, who died aged 99 on Friday, will be held at St George's Chapel in Windsor castle, preceded by a national minute's silence. There will be no public access nor public procession beforehand.
The number of mourners will be limited to 30, with Buckingham Palace stressing that the service will be held in line with Covid-19 restrictions, meaning members of the royal family including the queen would be expected to wear a mask.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson will not attend the funeral to make space for as many family members as possible under pandemic rules, his Downing Street office said in a statement.
"As a result of the Coronavirus regulations, only 30 people can attend the funeral of HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh," the statement said.
"The prime minister has throughout wanted to act in accordance with what is best for the royal household, and so to allow for as many family members as possible will not be attending the funeral on Saturday."
8 days of national mourning
Queen Elizabeth has approved 8 days of national mourning until the funeral, the royal family will observe two weeks of mourning.
A national minute's silence will also be held at 1500 local time on April 17 at the start of the funeral service.
“Although the ceremonial arrangements are reduced, the occasion will still celebrate and recognize the duke’s life and his more than 70 years of service to the Queen, the UK and the Commonwealth,” a palace spokesman said Saturday while speaking on condition of anonymity in line with policy.
The palace appealed to the public not to gather in Windsor, and for those who wished to pay their respects to Philips to stay at home instead.
“While there is sadness that the public will not be able to physically be part of events to commemorate the life of the duke, the royal family asks that anyone wishing to express their condolences do so in the safest way possible and not by visiting Windsor or any other royal palaces to pay their respects,'' the palace spokesman said. “The family’s wish is very much that people continue to follow the guidelines to keep themselves and others safe.''
Prince Charles paid a personal tribute on Saturday to his "dear papa" Prince Philip, saying the royal family missed him enormously and that he would have been amazed at the touching reaction across the world to his death.
"As you can imagine, my family and I miss my father enormously," Charles, the couple's eldest son and heir to the throne, said outside his Highgrove House home in west England.
"My dear papa was a very special person who I think above all else would have been amazed by the reaction and the touching things that have been said about him and from that point of view we are, my family, deeply grateful for all that. It will sustain us in this particular loss and at this particularly sad time."
A Buckingham Palace spokesman confirmed that Harry, who has moved to Los Angeles after giving up royal duties, was planning to attend the funeral, but his pregnant wife Meghan had been advised not to travel by her physician.
France 24
