Defiant mourners continue to travel to Buckingham Palace to pay respects to Prince Philip

2.4k

View
comments

A tearful Countess of Wessex today paid tribute to the ‘amazing’ Queen as the monarch began her life without Prince Philip, her ‘strength and stay’ throughout their 73-year marriage and 68-year reign.

Sophie, 56, and her husband Prince Edward, 57, left Windsor Castle with their windows down as they showed their appreciation to mourners who had gathered to lay flowers after Philip’s death yesterday aged 99. 

The scenes have been repeated at other royal residences including Buckingham Palace, where well-wishers – some dabbing their eyes – waited patiently to lay flowers – which were then removed by officials enforcing government directives to stay at home.  

The Wessexes and  Prince Andrew have been supporting their mother the Queen, 94, at Windsor today as she grieves for her ‘rock’.Sky News correspondent Rhiannon Mills spoke to Sophie as she left Windsor, and reported the royal ‘had tears in her eyes’ as she said through her car window ‘the Queen has been amazing’. 

The bouquets, flowers, cards, Union Flags and balloons left by mourners are being moved away by staff almost as soon as they are left – but royal aides insist they will all be saved and looked at by the Royal Family inside the grounds of Windsor and Buckingham Palace. 

The Duke of Edinburgh‘s coffin is in Her Majesty’s private chapel of worship at their Berkshire home before being moved to the nearby Albert Memorial Chapel later today, where he will rest during seven days of national mourning ahead of his hugely scaled-back funeral next Saturday.

And as artillery in London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Gibraltar join Royal Navy warships in firing 41 rounds in 41 minutes to pay tribute to the Duke of Edinburgh, it also emerged: 

• Prince Philip spent his final days at Windsor, enjoying the fresh air and spring sunshine, before becoming gravely ill on Thursday night. Her Majesty was with him when he died on Friday morning; 
• Royals are facing a dilemma over who to invite to the funeral due to Covid rules restricting numbers to 30; 
• Prince Harry has spoken to his father the Prince of Wales and cousins Beatrice and Eugenie after Philip’s death and plans return to Britain – but pregnant Meghan Markle is expected to stay in California; 
• Philip’s funeral could be Harry’s chance to repair ‘deep damage’ caused by Oprah interview, royal experts say;
• The Duke of Cambridge has withdrawn from this weekend’s Bafta awards ceremony as he mourns his grandfather;

The Queen’s youngest child Prince Edward was the first to arrive to support his mother again today, having made the short trip from his Surrey home. 

Prince Andrew, who lives in Windsor Castle’s grounds, was also seen arriving after 10am. Prince Charles stayed with the Queen until late last night.   

Palace security have even put up signs urging people not to congregate, but waves of mourners are still arriving to pay their respects to Her Majesty’s devoted husband, who dedicated his life to public service and supporting her.

Well-wishers, all respecting social distancing and wearing masks, laid their tributes and briefly stood to pay their respects, with some wiping away tears or quietly singing hymns before returning home.

Philip is expected to be laid to rest in the Royal Vault during his private family funeral at St George’s Chapel next Saturday, stripped back due to Britain’s ongoing lockdown, with only 30 relatives able to attend. 

Britons are being warned to stay at home and watch on TV to avoid spreading coronavirus.

His grandson Prince Harry is expected to return to the UK and be among the small number of mourners at the funeral, but it is unlikely his pregnant wife Meghan will accompany him, weeks after the couple accused the Royal Family of racism in their bombshell Oprah interview while Philip lay in hospital. 

Details about Prince Philip’s ‘peaceful’ death have emerged, with his wife of 73-years understood to have been at his bedside when he slipped away yesterday morning after becoming gravely ill late on Thursday, according to the Daily Telegraph.  

Gun salutes marking the death of the Duke of Edinburgh are to take place across the UK, in Gibraltar and at sea at Midday. There will also be cannons firing across the Commonwealth, including in Australia, where a salute rang out in capital Canberra overnight.

Saluting batteries will fire 41 rounds at one round every minute in cities including London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, as well as Gibraltar and from Royal Navy warships, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said. 

Gun salutes have been fired to mark significant national events since as early as at least the 18th century. 

They were used to mark the deaths of Queen Victoria in 1901 and Winston Churchill in 1965. 

The public is being encouraged to observe the gun salutes, which will be broadcast online and on television, from home. 

Windsor resident Craig Truter and his children were among those who left tributes to the Duke of Edinburgh at Cambridge Gate.

His sons Ranger, 6, and Bale, 4, laid hand-made paper crowns with the initials HRHPP (His Royal Highness Prince Philip).

Mr Truter said his children had made the crowns ‘as a sign of respect’ for the duke, and they saw members of the royal family ‘quite frequently’.

He added that his family had been ‘lucky enough’ to have been among the members of the public invited inside the castle grounds during the wedding of Princess Eugenie in 2018.

At the Queen’s central London home, guards in red could be seen marching in the courtyard as a slow but steady stream of people arrived to lay bouquets at the front gates.

Nikoletta Peto visited the palace shortly after 9am.

Ms Peto, 39, who is originally from Hungary said: ‘I have lived here for 15 years and I felt like it’s important to give a flower to someone who is so respected and who has done so much for this country.

‘So definitely I wanted to come, even though because of Covid I was shielding for over a year.’

She added: ‘I felt like I have to do it because I think it is how it should be.’  

Rebecca Connoll laid some flowers with her five-year-old son Harvey.

She said: ‘My husband’s in the Army, he’s in the Household Cavalry, so he does a lot of big events with the royal family.

‘So we just thought we’d come and pay our respects.’

She added: ‘We watched it on the news yesterday and we watch a lot of the royal things, we come down and watch the parades, he knows quite a lot about the royal family.’ 

The Queen is thought to have been at the bedside of her ‘beloved husband’ of 73 years Prince Philip when he passed away ‘peacefully’ at Windsor Castle yesterday.

The Duke of Edinburgh, the nation’s longest-serving consort, died in his private apartment just two months and a day before what would have been his 100th birthday.

Though palace officials declined to ‘go into any specifics’ about the nature of his passing, it is understood his frail condition worsened overnight on Thursday and that insiders had warned he was ‘gravely ill’. However, any talk of whisking the elderly duke to hospital was reportedly quickly dismissed by the Queen.

Philip, who recently spent a month being treated for an infection and a pre-existing heart condition, is thought to have died suddenly and unexpectedly, but peacefully in the company of his dear ‘Lilibet’. The Telegraph reported that the duke had wanted to pass away ‘in his own bed’ and ‘on his own terms’.

One well-placed source told the paper: ‘He spent most of the four weeks he was in hospital trying to get home.   

‘They operated on his heart in a bid to give him a little longer, maybe with the 100th birthday in mind. But he didn’t really care about that.’ 

They added: ‘There is no way he would have wanted to die in hospital.’  

In a short but poignant statement at noon, Buckingham Palace said: ‘It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen announces the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

‘His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle. Further announcements will be made in due course. The Royal Family join with people around the world in mourning his loss.’

As tributes poured in from around the world, the Palace’s focus was on the royal family’s aching personal bereavement.

‘They are a family in mourning,’ one official said last night.

Prince Charles, the heir to the throne, was seen leaving Windsor Castle hours after the news of his father’s passing. The Prince of Wales, 72, drove from his Highgrove Estate in Gloucestershire to the 94-year-old monarch’s Berkshire residence ahead of the public announcement of the duke’s passing.

Sitting in the front passenger seat of a silver Tesla, the prince looked on as he pulled away. It is not known whether Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, had accompanied him on what is their 16th wedding anniversary.

A source close to Charles said he was ‘comforted’ by the fact he and his father had been in touch more regularly than ever in recent weeks and months – and that they ‘had said all the things that needed to be said’.

The source said: ‘It is some small comfort today that the prince was in much more regular contact with his father in recent weeks and months than he otherwise might have been. 

‘He was the only family member who was able to visit him in hospital and he was at Windsor as recently as the week before last. They spoke a great deal.’ 

Friends were at pains to point out that the relationship between father and son was also warmer than it had ever been. One said: ‘The idea that their relationship was strained, certainly in recent years, couldn’t have been further from the truth. And that’s an important thing to remember in all that is being written.

‘There was genuine love, affection and understanding there. Which is all anyone holds dear at the end.’

There was no immediate personal reaction from the wider Royal Family, such was their grief. But in a previously recorded tribute to his father, Philip’s youngest son Prince Edward told ITV: ‘My parents have been such a fantastic support to each other during all those years and all those events and all those tours and events overseas. To have someone that you confide in and smile about things that you perhaps could not in public.

‘To be able to share that is immensely important.’

Recalling his humour ‘which always came through and the twinkle in his eye’, Edward added that he would remember his father ‘for what he has done in his public life for all the organisations he has supported and influenced’. Philip’s daughter Princess Anne told the broadcaster: ‘Without him life will be completely different.’ 

Harry and Meghan posted a message on their website thanking the duke for his service. ‘You will be greatly missed,’ it read. The prince was last night said to be ‘likely’ to fly from his home in the US, although it is unclear whether his heavily pregnant wife will join him.

At around 10.40am there was a flurry of police activity at the castle before Prince Andrew, who lives closest at Royal Lodge on the Windsor estate, arrived at a back entrance to the Queen’s private apartments five minutes later. Then at 11.15am another family member, believed to be Prince Edward, arrived to console their devastated mother.

News of Philip’s death, after being confirmed by the on-call royal doctor and disseminated to members of the Royal Family, was relayed to the Prime Minister and relevant arms of government – via a simple message: ‘Forth Bridge is down’, the official codeword for the Duke of Edinburgh’s death. Around the country, Union flags began to be flown at half-mast and will remain so until after the funeral next Saturday.

Crowds of mourners left flowers in tribute to Prince Philip outside royal residences last night despite pleas by officials to stay away because of covid restrictions.

Thousands of members of the public arrived at Windsor Castle – where the Duke of Edinburgh passed away – over the course of the afternoon.

Hundreds stood in quiet reflection to look at floral tributes lined up outside the gates of Buckingham Palace.

At Sandringham, where the Duke spent much of his time after retiring from public life in 2017 until the onset of the pandemic, flowers, cards and poems were also left outside the main entrance to Sandringham House.

Mourners were seen in tears outside both the Palace and the castle – where bouquets began piling up in early afternoon despite the Cabinet Office and Royal Household requests not to lay flowers in view of the pandemic restrictions on non-essential travel and large gatherings.

With England gradually easing itself out of a national lockdown amid the Covid-19 crisis, officials are desperate to avoid crowds from forming on the scale of those seen when Diana, Princess of Wales died in 1997. Then, tens of thousands of bouquets were left at both Buckingham Palace and her former home, Kensington Palace.

A royal official stationed outside Windsor Castle urged mourners not to come with flowers, but said the floral tributes which had already been left would be moved inside the castle grounds, where the Royal Family could look at them.

Thousands of tributes were posted online with heartfelt words for Her Majesty – who was described by one well-wisher as having ‘lost the brightest jewel in her crown’.

Flags were flown at half-mast across the country while thousands flocked to Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle to leave flowers and mourn.  

But Palace officials and No10 encouraged the public not to congregate in large groups amid coronavirus restrictions, as mounted police asked people to obey socially distancing measures.

Gun salutes marking the death of the Duke of Edinburgh are to take place across the UK, in Gibraltar and at sea.

Saluting batteries will fire 41 rounds at one round every minute from midday in cities including London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, as well as Gibraltar and from Royal Navy warships, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said.

Gun salutes have been fired to mark significant national events since as early as at least the 18th century.

They were used to mark the deaths of Queen Victoria in 1901 and Winston Churchill in 1965.

Gun salute for Prince Philip: Artillery in London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Gibraltar join Royal Navy warships in firing 41 rounds in 41 minutes to pay tribute to the Duke of Edinburgh

A gun salute rang out around the world today in honour of Prince Philip who died yesterday aged 99, with Royal Navy warships firing 41 shots over 40 minutes from midday in unison with batteries across the UK and Gibraltar after similar events in his beloved Commonwealth. 

Crowds gathered on Tower Bridge to watch members of the Honourable Artillery Company fire their cannons from the Tower of London as shots also echoed around the capital from the historic barracks seven miles away at Woolwich, finishing at 12.40pm precisely. 

HMS Diamond, a 8,000-tonne destroyer dubbed ‘the jewel in the naval crown, set sail from Portsmouth on Friday with her flag at half mast and held its gun salute in the Channel in memory of the Duke of Edinburgh, a celebrated sailor and war hero.

She is the modern successor to the destroyers Philip served on during the Second World War as part of his 14-year naval career. HMS Montrose, a Type 23 Frigate, fired her 4.5 inch main gun from Oman in the Gulf, where she is based.

On land ‘Solemn’ 41-shot salutes took place from the wharf at the Tower of London, in Belfast, Cardiff and Edinburgh as well as from Naval bases in Portsmouth, Plymouth and the Rock of Gibraltar.  

The Kings Troop Royal Horse Artillery fired on the Parade Ground at the historic Woolwich Barracks using the same guns also fired for Philip’s wedding to the Queen in 1947 and at her Coronation six years later in 1953.

An artillery salute has already taken place at Parliament House in Adelaide this morning, with similar commemorations repeated across the Commonwealth. 

And as tributes to the Queen’s husband poured in from around the globe, it also emerged: 

Officials told the public to observe the gun salutes, which will be broadcast online and on television, from home. 

It comes after floral tributes laid by members of the public outside palaces were quickly removed last night as the nation faced an eery seven days of eerie socially distanced mourning. 

In London, the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery rode out from their base at Napier Lines, Woolwich Barracks, onto the Parade Ground.

There were 71 horses, 36 of them pulling six 13-pounder field guns dating from the First World War.

The same guns were also fired for Philip’s wedding to the Queen in 1947 and at her Coronation six years later in 1953.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said: ‘His Royal Highness Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh was a constant supporter and ambassador of the armed forces.

‘We celebrate his life of service and offer our condolences to Her Majesty the Queen and the royal family.’

Chief of the Defence Staff, General Sir Nick Carter said: ‘His Royal Highness has been a great friend, inspiration and role model for the armed forces and he will be sorely missed.

‘The Duke of Edinburgh served among us during the Second World War, and he remained devoted to the Royal Navy and the armed forces as a whole.

‘A life well lived, His Royal Highness leaves us with a legacy of indomitable spirit, steadfastness and an unshakeable sense of duty. From all of us who serve today and who have served, thank you.’

The Honourable Artillery Company fired a salute at the Tower of London, the 104th Regiment Royal Artillery will fire from Cardiff Castle, and the 105th Regiment Royal Artillery will fire at Hillsborough Castle, Belfast and Edinburgh Castle. 

It comes as First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, the most senior officer in the Royal Navy, added to the tributes to Philip.

In a statement released on Saturday morning, he said: ‘His genuine empathy, affection and engagement with the Royal Navy resonated with us all.

‘His generous spirit, his delight in all aspects of the Naval Service, and his deep understanding of our values, standards and ethos made him such a close friend to the Service for over eight decades.’

Philip joined the Royal Navy after leaving school, beginning at the Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth in May 1939, and was singled out as best cadet.

During the Second World War, he served on several ships – firstly on HMS Ramillies – and saw active service against German, Italian and Japanese forces.

In March 1941, he was a searchlight control officer on the battleship HMS Valiant and was mentioned in despatches for his part in the battle of Matapan against the Italian fleet.

Shortly afterwards, he was awarded the Greek War Cross of Valour.

He rose rapidly through the ranks, earning promotion after promotion, with some believing he could have become First Sea Lord – the professional head of the Royal Navy.

But the Duke stepped down from his active role in the forces to fulfil his duty as the Queen’s consort.

In recognition of his long-standing connection with the Royal Navy, the Queen conferred the title of Lord High Admiral on the Duke to mark his 90th birthday in June 2011. 

Princes Andrew and Edward are supporting their mother the Queen at Windsor Castle today as she grieves the death of Prince Philip and begins life without her ‘strength and stay’ throughout their 73-year marriage and her 68-year reign. 

The Duke of Edinburgh‘s coffin is in Her Majesty’s private chapel of worship at their Berkshire home before being moved to the nearby Albert Memorial Chapel later today, where he will rest during seven days of national mourning ahead of his hugely scaled-back funeral next Saturday.

Their youngest child Prince Edward was the first to arrive to support his mother again today, having made the short trip from his Surrey home. Prince Andrew, who lives in Windsor Castle’s grounds, was also seen arriving after 10am. Prince Charles stayed with the Queen until late last night. 

Meanwhile Britons have defied public health advice to stay at home and continued to lay flowers for Prince Philip during socially distanced vigils at royal palaces today as the country marks his death at the age of 99.

The bouquets, flowers, cards, Union Flags and balloons are being moved away by staff almost as soon as they are left – but royal aides insist they will all be saved and looked at by the Royal Family inside the grounds of Windsor and Buckingham Palace.

Palace security have even put up signs urging people not to congregate, but waves of mourners are still arriving to pay their respects to Her Majesty’s devoted husband, who dedicated his life to public service and supporting her through their 73-year marriage.

Well-wishers, all respecting social distancing and wearing masks, laid their tributes and briefly stood to pay their respects, with some wiping away tears or quietly singing hymns before returning home.

Philip is expected to be laid to rest in the Royal Vault during his private family funeral at St George’s Chapel next Saturday, stripped back due to Britain’s ongoing lockdown, with only 30 relatives able to attend. Britons are being warned to stay at home and watch on TV to avoid spreading coronavirus.

His grandson Prince Harry is expected to return to the UK and be among the small number of mourners at the funeral, but it is unlikely his pregnant wife Meghan will accompany him, weeks after the couple accused the Royal Family of racism in their bombshell Oprah interview while Philip lay in hospital. 

Details about Prince Philip’s ‘peaceful’ death have emerged, with his wife of 73-years understood to have been at his bedside when he slipped away yesterday morning after becoming gravely ill late on Thursday, according to the Daily Telegraph.    

The sun on his face and a rug on his lap: RICHARD KAY reveals Prince Philip’s final days at Windsor Castle with his ‘Lilibet’ – the Queen – as he neared 100

For the Queen there was one saving grace: that she and Prince Philip were together at the end. After more than seven decades of their lives entwined in both love and duty, this may be the smallest of consolations.

His austerely decorated bedroom overlooking the East Terrace at Windsor Castle was still linked by the dressing room that gives on to his wife’s more comfortably furnished suite.

But it was his physical presence – so reassuring in the aftermath of so much family drama – from which in recent weeks she has drawn strength.

No longer the decisive man of action who had devoted a lifetime to supporting her, she was now able to repay him.

Domestic timetables such as mealtimes were torn up to accommodate him when he felt he was strong enough to join her.

Even with failing health signalling that his life was drawing to a close, the two were still able to enjoy time with each other as they always had.

In recent weeks he would often sleep for much of the day, but there were moments of great lucidity and joyful togetherness.

One such moment came when he dropped his reading glasses. A footman in attendance leapt forward to pick them up.

‘Never mind,’ the duke said, raising his arm. ‘I’ll do it.’ And so he did, bending down to the floor. On another occasion the Queen was overheard reflecting that her husband of 73 years was refusing to use his hearing aid. ‘It means we have to shout,’ she said.

Some are bound to focus on that looming centenary of Philip’s 100th birthday in June, which will no longer be the celebration once envisaged.

But the duke was not a sentimental man. For him it was far more important to die at home in his own bed, the date immaterial.

That it should have been at Windsor Castle where his mother Princess Alice, a great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria, was born was of infinitely more significance.

In recent days he had been often confined to his room, but in the weeks since his release from hospital last month – he spent 28 days in the King Edward VII’s and St Bartholomew’s hospitals – he has been calmer and quieter.

Food would be sent up on a tray but he often had little appetite.

Routines inevitably had to change. He cancelled his 7.30am calling tray of morning tea that a valet or page would bring to his room where, among the few personal possessions he always kept on display, there were two framed photographs – one of his wife and the other of his mother.

Intriguingly, among the family photographs of children and grandchildren he always kept on his office desk at Windsor, was one of Prince Charles and Princess Diana taken on their wedding day.

On those days when he felt strong enough to venture out of his room, he dressed in a shirt and jumper, pressed trousers and polished shoes. There was a valet to draw a bath but according to insiders at least until very recently Philip was still dressing himself.

On warm days he asked for a chair to be taken outside and he would sit in the sunshine with a rug over his legs. Often he would nod off.

Walking was difficult and around his apartment he used a stick. Occasionally he would allow himself to be pushed in a wheelchair but staff were wary of suggesting it. ‘When it first appeared in the private rooms he shouted: ‘Get that bloody thing out of my sight!’, recalls an aide.

This unwillingness to betray any sign of frailty was characteristic.

But for the pandemic, things might have been so very different. At Wood Farm on the Sandringham estate Philip had adjusted to a new kind of life, sometimes with the Queen but often alone or entertaining friends such as Countess Mountbatten, the former Lady Penny Romsey, to whom he taught the sport of carriage driving.

When lockdown commenced last March Philip was whisked to Windsor to join the Queen. He did return to his beloved Wood Farm – thanks once again to the Queen. After cutting their stay at Balmoral last summer to just six weeks, they then spent three weeks at the Norfolk bolthole.

With its simple furnishings and modest size, it was the closest the couple came to leading an ordinary non-palace life.

On one occasion at a picnic a domestic servant, unfamiliar with royal tradition, mixed a salad dressing – only for the Queen to exclaim when she arrived a little after her husband: ‘I can’t believe the Duke of Edinburgh has made the vinaigrette, he knows I like to do it.’

Philip himself loved the solitude of north Norfolk. When he was there alone he had just a valet and a cook to take care of him. But after his illness and with the country in a third lockdown the prospect of him returning to Wood Farm was impossible.

Instead, he had only one ambition: he was determined not to end his days in hospital. ‘When he came back to Windsor he said he was not going back to any hospital,’ an insider said.

Instructions were issued that he should be made as comfortable as possible – and if that meant changing timetables for meals so be it.

‘His entire life had been conducted to strict routines and since retiring he didn’t have to follow them and it was agreed that it should continue like that for him,’ says an insider.

‘No fuss was the constant refrain,’ says the insider.

Even so he was well enough to still speak to family and close friends on the telephone – unlike the Queen, Philip was not a fan of Zoom calls.

But he was frustrated by Covid restrictions which didn’t just limit visits by the family but also meant difficulties in the nursing care he needed.

There was no dramatic decline in his health but it was gradual. Earlier this week, staff said Philip was ‘on good form’. He was still reading and writing letters.

Remember, this was a man who prided himself on his fitness and who rarely complained. Even so he was not pain free.

And rehearsals for his death were already under way. Late at night, a team of footmen at Buckingham Palace had been practising the placing of the official typed statement about the duke’s death.

Yesterday the task was conducted by two of the Palace’s foot-women.

Philip, who did so much to modernise Buckingham Palace, would surely have approved.