Prince Philip of the UK will be buried this Saturday (17), after a funeral with military honors and a small audience at Windsor Castle, which is on the outskirts of London.
2nd husband of Queen Elizabeth, he died at the age of 99 on April 9.
Watch live footage of the ceremony below, provided by the British Royal Family:
Your coffin will be taken from the entrance of the castle to the Saint-Georges chapel. Family members will follow you in a small procession on foot. The queen made the trip in another vehicle.
The coffin is taken in a simple looking military green Land Rover truck designed according to the instructions of Philip, who thought of an open back to take the coffin and even designed the metal pins that hold the coffin.
Due to the pandemic, only 30 guests were allowed, but dozens of other soldiers and officials were present at the ceremony. They were placed in a courtyard of the castle, in special uniforms, and stood at a greater distance because of the pandemic.
The event has a military style, at the behest of Philip, who served as a naval officer in World War II and maintained close ties with the military throughout his life. Representatives of aeronautics, the army and the navy are present. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he had waived his invitation and watched the funeral on television.
At 3 p.m. (11 a.m. in Brasilia), there will be a minute of silence across the UK in honor of Philip, as the funeral ceremony begins.
In the chapel, in addition to the prayers, given by an Anglican religious, four singers will perform songs chosen by the prince himself. Then the prince’s body would be placed in a royal vault.
Philip had a ceremonial rather than a state burial, usually reserved only for the monarch who runs the country. Princess Diana, who died in 1997, also had a ceremonial tribute, for example.
Due to the pandemic, authorities have asked the British not to leave Windsor and instead of bringing flowers to the palaces, to make charitable donations.
Besides the Queen, Prince Charles, 72, heir to the throne, participates in the funeral, alongside his wife, Camilla, princes William and Harry, with their wives and children. Also come the children of the Queen’s sister, Princess Margaret, now deceased, and Philip’s three German parents.
Prince Harry, who lives in California, came without his wife, Meghan Markle, who is pregnant and has not traveled on medical advice.
Harry and Meghan had stepped down from the royal family and officially stepped down from their monarchical duties earlier this year. In March, in a TV interview, the couple criticized the British monarchy. Meghan has said he has been the target of racist statements, such as hearing that the British royal family are concerned about the skin color of their first child. It was the first time Harry had appeared in public, next to the family, after the interview was screened.
The story of the prince
hilippos Schleswig-Holstein Sonderburg-Glucksburg was born in 1921, on the Greek island of Corfu, in a house marked by misfortune. His grandfather, King George 1 of Greece, was assassinated. The cousin, King Alexander, died at age 27 of infection after being bitten by a monkey.
Still linked to the Danish Crown, Philip’s family were forced into exile as a baby after a military uprising. He left Greece in a makeshift fruit box as a cradle. The deaf mother was diagnosed with schizophrenia.
Philip passed through France and went to live in England with his maternal grandmother, who was also the granddaughter of Queen Victoria (1819-1901) – making him a distant cousin of Queen Elizabeth.
In the UK he studied and joined the Navy. In 1939 he met Elizabeth during a visit by the Princess to the British Naval Academy, where the then student was named co-founder of the Heir to the Throne. They began to exchange correspondence.
He fought in World War II in the Mediterranean and the Pacific. In 1943, he saved his own life and that of his companions by building a fake ship that would attract the attention of a German air attack, allowing the destroyer HMS Wallace, where the British were located, to escape.
When he married Elizabeth in 1947, Philip became a British citizen, converted to the Anglican faith, and abdicated his rights to foreign thrones. He became Duke of Edinburgh, the principal of his many titles, and retired from naval activities.
As a prince, he spent decades traveling abroad and attending events representing the monarchy and engaging in philanthropic activities. There have been over 22,000 public ceremonies. In several of them, he made blunders while making jokes, some of which were racist.
Philip retired from public life in 2017. He died on April 9, after a period of hospitalization. The cause of death has not been revealed.