HRH The Prince Philip Funeral

[IamnotH]

Watching on BBC 1. Wish Huw would shut up and let us listen to the bands/watch them March.

@Roussette

And the Queen is going to stay at Windsor permanently, no more Buckingham Palace. I read that, no idea if it's right or not. I think she is probably incredibly close to her chief lady in waiting, 50 years plus together

That was always pretty much guaranteed atm anyway. The restoration work happening at Buckingham Palace is massive and has several more years to go.

On the back of this I have just watched the BBC programme in his own words, really fascinating, what a great strong character, no nonsense

[quote lollipoprainbow]@mateysmum I vow to thee my country also has me in bits especially today, very fitting music for him too. [/quote]
It was a hymn at the Prince of Wales first wedding, and also at Diana, Princess of Wales's funeral. So it must have been quite emotional

The Queen already spends most of her time at Windsor. In recent years she is generally only at Buckingham Palace Mon/Tues or for an official engagement. Since she's got older she only comes to London when she needs to

She will be 95 next week

@SoupDragon

Her and Prince Phillip didn't live together in the traditional sense for a long time. It's not like my Nan and grandad who were joined at the hip

I do wish people would stop spouting this bile. Especially today. It's rude.

Quite.

I thought it was very moving that they sang the Russian Kontakion of the Departed which is used in the Greek and Russian Orthodox as a funeral hymn. A link to his Russian ancestors ( he provided DNA which allowed the Russian royal family to be identified) and his Greek heritage, he was baptised into the Greek Orthodox Church.

It was a beautiful and very moving service .

Should obviously say Greek and Russian Orthodox Church

I'd forgotten Prince Philip's connections to the Romanovs. This all goes back to Queen Victoria? One of her daughters married the Tzar?

The whole funeral was stunning. A masterpiece of the personal mixed with the ceremonial.

Well done, Sir.

LemonViolet

I didn’t see Charles & Camilla or Anne & Tim walking, they were probably in a car, and the Queen’s cousins are all elderly and probably wouldn’t walk either.

It’s quite the hill so I don’t blame them

Charles and Camilla walked back. Charles spent some time putting an extremely large white hanky back in his pocket.

@SchadenfreudePersonified

I was much more moved by this than I expected.

I think the very emptiness of the cathedral gave the service a dignity and a dept of meaning that would have been totally absent from a "bells and whistles" state funeral.

And I felt for Prince Charles - obviously very, very much feeling the loss of his father.

I agree, especially with your first sentence. I wasn't expecting to be upset but watching the Queen tottering in by herself got the tears flowing and every time the camera panned to her sitting along it just got worse. Thankfully they didn't do that too often.

It was a wonderful service. I'm glad I watched it.

Gosh, the Duke of Kent is suddenly looking very, very old.

It was perfect, in every sense, just perfect.
The ponies being reassured by their grooms, with the tub of sugar lumps started me off. Then our solitary queen, bowed, frail but not broken. What a strong lady she is.
William and Harry and Kate, what a relief to see the three of them walking and talking at the end.
The Sky coverage was excellent, I thought.

I think it's quite 'amusing' that people think the Queen has no friends, or that she will be on her own now. There are 'ordinary' widows in their 90s, married 70+ years, who do not have anyone living with them, but have many friends & family to support them.

The Queen has many close women friends if you follow 'Royal' gossip, including Angela her dresser who is supposedly a very close friend.

@SchadenfreudePersonified

I was much more moved by this than I expected.

I think the very emptiness of the cathedral gave the service a dignity and a dept of meaning that would have been totally absent from a "bells and whistles" state funeral.

And I felt for Prince Charles - obviously very, very much feeling the loss of his father.

I agree. It made the ceremony beautiful and dignified, imo.

@Alsohuman

The bit that I found most poignant was when the Queen went into the chapel and paused to look behind her - she must be so used to having DofE at her shoulder. She looked so tiny and fragile.

Don't! I'm in tears

@OrchestraOfWankery

I'd forgotten Prince Philip's connections to the Romanovs. This all goes back to Queen Victoria? One of her daughters married the Tzar?

The whole funeral was stunning. A masterpiece of the personal mixed with the ceremonial.

Well done, Sir.

It was a granddaughter of Victoria who married the Tzar. She was Philip's great-Aunt

I wish they could all get together now for a celebration/wake/dinner etc. But if they are only allowed 15, they will have to be careful to split it into two, or something, because eventually, I guess, someone on the staff would leak to the press what had happened. It's a shame, because I think they should be able to get together. That feeling of post-funeral relief is huge, and needs a place to be expressed, with other people who understand.

So poignant: I was thinking of William and Harry walking behind Diana’s coffin.... and William and Harry walking together down that hill to Harry’s wedding service.

Watching his grandfather carried up those steps, Harry must have thought about waking down them with Meghan.

Harry is one of the 15 invited to the wake.

I'd forgotten Prince Philip's connections to the Romanovs. This all goes back to Queen Victoria? One of her daughters married the Tzar?

One of her granddaughters, Alexandra. She was Philip's great aunt. Philip is also related to the Romanovs through his father's Danish ancestry. His family history is fascinating.

I think I'd have wanted to walk a bit after that service. A chance to compose oneself and relieve the tension with a bit of exercise. And take the facemask off.

I didn't see Princess Alexandra. I suppose they just didn't happen to show her going in.

Oh is there a formal list? It's such a shame if they honestly have to limit it.

Thank you @fatladysang I came on this thread to find out who she was as Google had failed me, hurrah for Mumsnet. Do you know anything more about her she and all the other singers were great and blended well together.

It was a real family affair.

@FlattestWhite

Oh is there a formal list? It's such a shame if they honestly have to limit it.

I would imagine that it will consist of the Queen, her children, and their children, with no spouses aside from Camilla and Catherine.