Amid coronavirus restrictions, Britain has had to adjust how it grieves over the past year. And with current rules allowing for just 30 people at funerals, the royal family scaled back plans for the service for Prince Philip.
A select handful of his closest family members were the only ones allowed in St. George’s Chapel. They were required to wear masks, follow social-distancing guidelines and refrain from singing, Buckingham Palace has said.
So who are those 30 people?
First, of course, there is Queen Elizabeth II. Like the rest of the family, she wore a face covering and had to sit at least six feet from other attendees.
Several family members took part in a procession behind Philip’s coffin before entering the chapel. The custom-built hearse was followed by his daughter, Anne, the Princess Royal; and by his son Charles, the Prince of Wales. Directly behind them were their younger brothers, Prince Edward, the Earl of Wessex; and Prince Andrew, the Duke of York.
Then some of Philip’s grandchildren followed: Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex; Peter Philips, the son of Princess Anne; and Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, in that order.
Behind them were the final two in the procession: Vice Admiral Timothy Laurence, Princess Anne’s husband; and David Armstrong-Jones, the Earl of Snowdon and son of Princess Margaret, the queen’s deceased sister.
Other family members gathered inside the church. Charles’s wife, Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, was seated with him, and Prince Edward was joined by his wife, Sophie, the Countess of Wessex, and their two children, Lady Louise Windsor and James, Viscount Severn.
Prince William’s wife, Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, also joined him in the church. Prince Harry’s wife, Meghan, who is pregnant with their second child, did not travel with him from their home in California.
Zara Tindall, Princess Anne’s daughter; and the Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, the daughters of Prince Andrew — along with their spouses — were also present.
Princess Margaret’s daughter, Lady Sarah Chatto, and her husband, Daniel Chatto, attended, as did three of the queen’s cousins who regularly carry out official royal duties: Prince Richard, the Duke of Gloucester; Prince Edward, the Duke of Kent; and Princess Alexandra.
Three of Prince Philip’s German relatives were also in attendance: Bernhard, Hereditary Prince of Baden; Donatus, Prince and Landgrave of Hesse; and Philipp, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg.
And there was room for one more distant family member, Penelope Knatchbull, Countess Mountbatten, who was a close friend and carriage-driving partner of Prince Philip. She is married to the grandson of Lord Louis Mountbatten, Philip’s uncle, who was much beloved by the royal family. Lord Mountbatten was killed by the Irish Republican Army in 1979.
Source : Nytimes
