Britain has misplaced ‘the grandfather of the nation,’ Prince Andrew says

The dying of Britain’s Prince Philip has disadvantaged the nation of its grandfather and left an enormous void for his spouse of 73 years, Queen Elizabeth, the couple’s second son stated on Sunday.

Prince Andrew described Philip as a “outstanding man” after he left a personal service in Windsor, the place his father died on Friday on the age of 99.

“It’s a fantastic loss,” he stated. “I feel the best way I might put it’s we’ve misplaced nearly the grandfather of the nation.”

He stated the household was rallying round his 94-year-old mom, including she was stoical within the face of a loss that she had described as “having left an enormous void in her life.”

Andrew has hardly ever been seen in public since he stepped down from official duties in 2019 over the controversy surrounding his affiliation with the disgraced late U.S. financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Prayers have been stated for Philip on the non-public service in All Saints Chapel in Windsor Nice Park west of London, echoing church providers throughout the nation.

At a service at Canterbury Cathedral, the Archbishop of Canterbury prayed for individuals who discovered that the dying of the Duke of Edinburgh, as Philip was formally identified, had left a “very nice hole” of their lives.

As a part of eight days of nationwide mourning, individuals gathered outdoors Windsor Fortress and different royal palaces to go away flowers, whereas non secular and political leaders expressed assist for the queen, the world’s oldest and longest-reigning monarch.

A be aware hooked up to a Royal Navy peak cap left amongst flowers at Windsor, a tribute to Philip’s service within the navy, learn: “God bless you Sir, you have been an instance to us all.”

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Stirring music

At Canterbury Cathedral, Edward Elgar’s stirring Nimrod was performed, the piece of music that accompanies many British funerals and memorial providers and is performed yearly on the Cenotaph in London to mark the Nationwide Service of Remembrance.

A Greek prince, Philip married Elizabeth in 1947, 5 years earlier than she ascended to the throne. He helped the monarchy modernize within the post-World Conflict Two interval and supported the queen by quite a few crises over time.

His funeral can be held subsequent Saturday, with long-established plans redrawn and scaled down due to COVID-19 restrictions.

The prince can be given a ceremonial royal funeral reasonably than a state funeral. There can be no public processions, and it is going to be held solely throughout the grounds of Windsor Fortress and restricted to 30 mourners.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson won’t attend.

A ‘little house’ for the Queen

John Main, who was British prime minister from 1990 to 1997, stated he hoped the queen could be given the time she must grieve after she misplaced her husband of 73 years.

He stated being the top of state was a “very lonely place in some ways,” and the queen would really feel the lack of a person she had relied on for many years.

“I do know she is the monarch, I do know she has obligations, however she has earned the precise to have a interval of privateness through which to grieve together with her household,” he advised the BBC.

Union flags will fly at half-mast at royal residences and authorities buildings till the day after the funeral. The royal household is observing two weeks of mourning.

Harry and Meghan

Main, who was guardian to Princes William and Harry after their mom Diana died, stated he additionally hoped the funeral would assist reunite the household after it was rocked final month by an interview given by Harry and his spouse Meghan to Oprah Winfrey.

In the course of the interview, Meghan stated her pleas for assist whereas she felt suicidal have been ignored and that an unnamed member of the household had requested how darkish their unborn baby’s pores and skin is perhaps.

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Harry will return from the US, the place the couple now reside, to attend the funeral whereas Meghan, who’s pregnant with their second baby, won’t, on her physician’s recommendation.

“The friction that we’re advised has arisen is a friction higher ended as speedily as doable,” Main stated.