Maria Laura Avignolo
04/10/2021 15:04
Clarín.com
World
Updated 04/10/2021 15:04
In a day of respect, remembrance and nostalgia throughout Great Britain for the death of Prince Philip, Buckingham Palace announced that the funeral that he himself planned will take place next Saturday, April 17, in privacy, at the Palace of Windsor.
Prince Harry will travel especially for the funeral from California but not Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, on medical advice, given her advanced pregnancy.
It will be
the first family meeting
, after the Sussex crisis.
It is not yet known whether or not he should quarantine or be exempted from the funeral.
Queen Elizabeth, his wife, and Prince Charles, his son and heir, participated in the final details, which began to be discussed this Friday.
This Saturday they were explained to Andrew, the Duke of York, Prince Edward and his wife, Sophie, the Dukes of Sussex, and Princess Anne, their other children in Windsor, when they came to accompany the sovereign.
There will be
eight days of national mourning before the funeral
.
The coffin will be loaded into a Land Rover, as the prince wanted, on his last trip and not in a funeral car.
He himself participated in the design of the Land Rover that would take him to his grave.
The guards at Windsor Castle, outside London, this Saturday.
Photo: AFP
Look also
In photos: Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh and Queen Elizabeth II's consort have died
Thanks from Prince Charles
Prince Charles spoke to the country from the door of his home in Highrove, three hours from Windsor, on this sad day, following the death of the queen's husband.
Wearing a blue suit and
showing no feelings, he paid tribute to his "dear papa",
the Duke of Edinburgh, for the first time since his death on Friday.
Speaking from outside his country house, Prince Philip's eldest son said that his father was a "much loved and appreciated figure."
"I suppose my father for the past 70 years has rendered the most extraordinary and devoted service to the Queen, my family, the country and the entire Commonwealth as well," Prince Charles declared.
"And as you can imagine, my family and I miss my father enormously. He was a very loved and appreciated figure. Apart from anything else, I can imagine that he would be so deeply moved by the number of people here and in other parts of the world. , in the Commonwealth, which I also believe share our loss and our pain, ”continued the heir.
"And my dear dad was a very special person, who I think above all would have been amazed by the reaction and the moving things that are being said about him. From that point of view we are, my family, deeply grateful for everything. that".
It will sustain us in this particular loss and in this particularly sad moment, "he concluded.
"The queen has been amazing," said Sophie, the Duchess of Wessex, as she also left Windsor Palace in a Land Rover, very slowly, thanking the people who greeted her.
An afoto of Prince Felipe in front of Buckingham Palace, this Saturday, where many Britons went to say goodbye to the queen's husband, who died on Friday.
Photo: AFP
Tributes and minutes of silence
This Saturday, at football games, in buildings, in Piccadilly Circus, in the British Telecom Tower in London there were photos with tributes to the Duke of Edinburgh.
Two minutes of silence were observed at the Grand National horse race in Antree in memory of the Duke, who was an honorary member of the Jockey Club.
His flag flew at half mast.
A minute of silence will mark the start of the nationwide funeral next Saturday at 3pm at
St's Chapel in Windsor.
The place where many of the Royals got married, including Meghan and Harry, and celebrated their happy days was the place chosen by the patriarch to begin his funeral.
The pandemic forced certain changes because there are
attendance restrictions
and it
will be a strictly family ceremony
.
But it will be broadcast on television.
The prince
will be buried in Frogmore Gardens
, not far from where Harry and Meghan lived, in the house given to them by Queen Elizabeth, where Princess Eugenie, daughter of Prince Andrew, currently lives.
It is not known where Prince Harry will be staying.
Only 30 people will be able to attend the funeral.
The sovereign, her children, her grandchildren and the very close family are expected.
But the final list will be known next Thursday.
A funeral organized by Felipe himself
As during the funeral of Princess Diana, members of the Royal Family will march behind the coffin, covered with the Duke's banner, with a crown of laurels, the saber and the cap of Prince Philip's navy uniform.
You will be greeted by the Dean of Windsor and the Archbishop of Canterbury at the chapel door.
"When now is a time of sadness and mourning, the days ahead will be an opportunity to celebrate a remarkable life," said a Buckingham Palace spokesman.
An image of the young Prince Philip, among the flowers in his tribute, this Saturday in front of Windsor Castle, on the outskirts of London.
Photo: AFP
The public has been asked not to attend the Windsor funeral from the street "for sanitary reasons"
or to leave floral tributes in the royal residences.
The Royal House opened a book of condolences on the Internet to pay tribute to him.
In that original plan of the funeral that Prince Philip approved and designed, baptized by the Forth Bridge protocol and many times rehearsed, thousands of people were going to attend in London and Windsor, if there were no pandemic, a military farewell procession.
But
the Covid has forced the organization of contingency plans to avoid crowds
and massive infections.
Palace officials said the ceremony would be carried out strictly in accordance with government guidelines on Covid-19, which restrict the number of people attending funerals.
They declined to say whether the royal family would be required to wear chinstraps.
The tribute of the military
The announcement took place in the midst of national mourning and when different military regiments from all over the kingdom participated on Saturday in a ceremony of
41 cannon shots
at the Duke, a veteran of the Navy and Commander until his retirement from public life.
The military of the kingdom considered the Duke of Edinburgh a military man, one of their own and the affection was mutual.
In Gibraltar, as in London and other cities, the military honored Prince Philip with 41 cannon shots on Saturday.
Photo: REUTERS
Cannon batteries in London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, the capitals of the four nations that make up the United Kingdom, as well as in other cities in the United Kingdom and the Gibraltar outpost in the Mediterranean, fired volleys at one-minute intervals, starting at noon.
The ships, including HMS Montrose, a frigate patrolling the Persian Gulf, offered their own salutes.
"The Duke of Edinburgh served among us during World War II, and remained faithful to the Royal Navy and the Armed Forces as a whole," Gen. Nick Carter, chief of defense staff, said in a statement.
“A life well lived.
His Royal Highness leaves us with a legacy of indomitable spirit, steadfastness and an unshakable sense of duty. "
Sailors remember him as an "old school" officer, who worshiped strength and was always faithful to them.
Members of the Commonwealth, a group of 54 countries that have Queen Elizabeth as head of state, were also invited to honor Philip.
The Australian Defense Force began their salute at 5 p.m.
local time, outside the Parliament House in Canberra.
New Zealand plans to offer its own tribute on Sunday.
An image of the Duke of Edinburgh at Westminster Abbey in London this Saturday.
Photo: AP
Felipe, his career and love
Felipe joined the
Royal Navy
as a cadet in 1939 and had a promising military career.
In 1941, he was honored for his service during the Battle of Cape Matapan off the coast of Greece, when his control of searchlights, aboard HMS Valiant, allowed the battleship to signal enemy ships in the dark.
He rose to the rank of commander before retiring from active duty.
Two years after the end of the world war, Philip married Princess Elizabeth at Westminster Abbey, when she was 21 and he was 26.
Philip's naval career came to an abrupt end
when King George VI died in 1952 and his wife became queen.
He was her prince consort for 73 years.
At the queen's coronation in 1953, Felipe vowed to be his wife's "lord of life."
He fulfilled his promise and only could not modernize the monarchy, before the rejection of the traditionalist courtiers.
Before retiring from official duties in 2017, the prince made more than 22,000 solo public engagements and supported more than 780 organizations, including the Duke of Edinburgh Prize for young people.
The British sadly say goodbye to Queen Elizabeth's husband and thank the sovereign, the crown, for his services, at the cost of their own resignation.
Despite the Covid, the subjects arrived with bouquets of flowers at Buckingham Palace, her palace in Edinburgh and in Windsor, where the Royal Family met with the queen on Saturday afternoon to accompany her.
"I think everyone would like to pay their respects," said Maureen Field, 67, outside Windsor Castle.
“Because of the virus, a lot of people have to stay away.
He didn't want a big funeral.
He wanted a very private moment with his family to say goodbye.
So we all have to respect that. "
Mike Williams, 50, traveled from his home in Surrey, southwest London, to Buckingham Palace to honor the prince.
"It is a great loss for the country and for the world. I think we wanted to come and pay our respects," Williams said.
"I don't know what I achieved, but I felt it was the right thing to do," he declared.
Paris, correspondent
CB
Look also
Roberto Devorik: "Prince Felipe never forgave Lady Di for not bowing his head"
Prince Philip died: Queen Elizabeth will not abdicate, her husband would be buried in Windsor and Harry travels to London