Prince Philip's Funeral: What to Expect and How to Watch
The Duke of Edinburgh's funeral will be held April 17 at 3 p.m. BST (10 a.m. EST) at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle
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British soldiers, sailors and air force personnel were practicing, polishing and making final preparations Friday for Prince Philip's funeral, a martial but personal service that will mark the death of a royal patriarch who was also one of the dwindling number of World War II veterans.
The Duke of Edinburgh's funeral will be held April 17 at 3 p.m. BST (10 a.m. EST) at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle, the site of centuries of royal burials — and royal weddings, including the 2018 union of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
Millions of people around the world are expected to tune in to watch Prince Philip's funeral service, which will be broadcast across major television networks and streamed online.
NBC News will carry special coverage of the funeral beginning at 9:30 a.m. ET. Stream it live here.
How Will the Coronavirus Pandemic Affect Ceremonies?
With Britain still in lockdown, the coronavirus pandemic means it will be a more low-key farewell than has marked many royal deaths. The pandemic has required changes to the well-prepared plans for Philip’s passing, code-named Operation Forth Bridge.
Palace officials said the ceremony would be conducted strictly in line with the British government's COVID-19 guidelines, which restrict the number of people attending funerals to 30 instead of the 800 mourners included in the longstanding funeral plans.
Mourners have been instructed to wear masks and observe social distancing inside the chapel, and not to join in when a four-person choir sings hymns. The queen, who has spent much of the past year isolating with her husband at Windsor Castle, will sit alone.
Who Is Invited to Attend?
Queen Elizabeth II
Prince Charles
Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall
Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge
Duchess of Cambridge
Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex
Prince Andrew, the Duke of York
Princess Beatrice
Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi
Princess Eugenie
Jack Brooksbank
Prince Edward
Countess of Wessex
Lady Louise Windsor
Viscount Severn
Princess Anne
Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence
Peter Phillips
Zara Phillips
Mike Tindall
Earl of Snowdon
Lady Sarah Chatto
Daniel Chatto
Duke of Gloucester
Duke of Kent
Princess Alexandra
Bernhard, Hereditary Prince of Baden
Prince Donatus, Landgrave of Hesse
Prince Philipp of Hohenlohe-Langenburg
The Countess Mountbatten of Burma
Meghan, who is pregnant and living in California with Harry, is not coming to the funeral on the advice of her doctor.
British Royal Family Tree
What Will Happen on the Day?
The funeral service will be preceded by a ceremonial procession inside the grounds of Windsor Castle. In lieu of a hearse, his body will be carried to the chapel on a modified Land Rover TD5 130 that he designed himself, painted military green and with an open back to carry a coffin. The Armed forces bands will play hymns and classical music.
The children of Philip and the queen — Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward -- will walk behind the hearse and lead the 15-member procession. So will grandsons Prince William and Prince Harry, although not side by side. The brothers, whose relationship has been strained amid Harry’s decision to quit royal duties and move to California, will flank their cousin Peter Phillips, the son of Princess Anne.
Upon arriving at St. George's Chapel at 10 a.m. ET, a nationwide minute of silence will be observed. The hour-long service will be led by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Inside the gothic chapel, the service will include Royal Marine buglers sounding “Action Stations,” an alarm that alerts sailors to prepare for battle. That was a personal request from Philip, who spent almost 14 years in the Royal Navy and saw action in the Mediterranean, Indian Ocean and Pacific during World War II.
At the conclusion of the service, Prince Philip will be interred in the Royal Vault in St. George's Chapel.
Prince Philip of Greece, later Duke of Edinburgh, as a toddler in July 1922. Philip had settled in London as a child, after his uncle, then the King of Greece, was forced to abdicate.
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Romania’s King Michael, second left, with his mother, Princess Helene, enjoy a holiday at Mamaia, Romania, Sept. 8, 1928. From left to right; Princess Fedora of Greece, King Michael, Princess Helene, Princess Irene of Greece, Princess Marguerite of Greece, Prince Philip of Greece and Prince Paul of Greece.
Fox Photos/Getty Images
Prince Philip of Greece dressed for the Gordonstoun School’s production of ‘MacBeth’, in Scotland. Philip had left Greece to live with his grandmother, Victoria Mountbatten, at Kensington Palace at the age of 7.
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Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, prior to his marriage to Princess Elizabeth, saluting as he resumes his attendance at the Royal Naval Officers School at Kingsmoor, Hawthorn, England, July 31, 1947.
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The first image of the royal newly-weds, British Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, in the grounds of Broadlands (the home of Earl Mountbatten, governer-general of India), at Ramsey, Hampshire, where they are spending their honeymoon, Nov. 23, 1947.
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Princess Elizabeth and her husband the Duke of Edinburgh leave Westminster Abbey, London, on Nov. 20, 1947, following their wedding service.
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Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, wears the uniform of a field marshal as he talks with Pvt. S.P. Campbell of Sidney Mines, Nova Scotia, as he visits Canadian troops at the London-Edinburgh barracks at Hannover, Germany, March 18, 1953.
Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Princess Elizabeth with her husband Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and their children Prince Charles and Princess Anne.
Keystone/Getty Images
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, wave at the crowds from the balcony at Buckingham Palace on June 2, 1953.
Donald McKague/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Prince Philip poses for a portrait at home in Buckingham Palace in December 1958 in London, England.
Donald McKague/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh pose for a portrait at home in Buckingham Palace in December 1958 in London, England.
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The Duke of Edinburgh disembarks from a Harvard Trainer aircraft after a flight, at RAF White Waltham, Berkshire, where he has been training for his ‘wings’.
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Sitting on rugs on the lawn, the British royal family poses for a picture during a holiday at Balmoral, Scotland in September, 1960.
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Queen Elizabeth II, with her husband Prince Philip, in an open topped car as they leave an event, in Paris, on May 16, 1972.
AP Photo/Arturo Mari
Queen Elizabeth II, turns at smiles at her husband Prince Philip, during an audience with Pope John Paul II in his private study at the Vatican, Italy, Oct. 17, 1980.
Anwar Hussein/Getty Images
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Prince William, Earl Spencer, Prince Harry and Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, follow the coffin of Diana, Princess of Wales, London, England, Sept. 6, 1997. This was one of Philip's more somber public appearances as the royal family and the world was hit by the shock of Princess Diana's passing.
AP Photo/Dave Caulkin
Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, drives his carriage through Home Park in Windsor, May 13, 2004.
Fiona Hanson/AFP via Getty Images
Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh walk at Broadlands, Hampshire, Nov. 18, 2007. Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip are to mark their diamond wedding anniversary before jetting off to Malta to revive golden memories of their newlywed youth. Queen Elizabeth is known to cherish the time they spent on the Mediterranean island as a young couple, out of Britain and out of the spotlight in the years before she inherited the throne at 25 in 1952.
AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis
Queen Elizabeth II, left, accompanied by her husband Prince Philip, right, on the main balcony of Buckingham Palace, wave to the gathering crowds, as they attend the annual Trooping the Colour, in central London, June 13, 2009.
Carl Court/AFP via Getty Images
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II delivers the Queen’s Speech from the throne in the House of Lords next to Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, during the State Opening of Parliament at the Palace of Westminster in London on June 4, 2014. The State Opening of Parliament marks the formal start of the parliamentary year and the Queen’s Speech sets out the governments agenda for the coming session.
Ben Stansall/AFP via Getty Images
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, leave St Paul’s Cathedral in London on March 13, 2015, after attending a memorial service to mark the end of Britain’s combat operations in Afghanistan.
AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, file
In this April 22, 2016, photo President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama are greeted by Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip as they arrive on Marine One at Windsor Castle in Windsor, England.
AP Photo/Tim Ireland
Queen Elizabeth II waves as she watches the flypast, with Prince Philip, right, Prince William, center, his son Prince George, front, Kate, Duchess of Cambridge holding Princess Charlotte, centre left, the Prince of Wales, third left, the Duchess of Cornwall, second left, and Princess Anne on the balcony during the Trooping the Colour parade at Buckingham Palace, in London, June 11, 2016.
Alexi Lubomirski/Kensington Palace
Britain’s Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, center, in Windsor Castle, Windsor, England, seen in their wedding finery on May 19, 2018. Others in photo from left, back row, Jasper Dyer, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, Prince Charles, Doria Ragland, Prince William; center row, Brian Mulroney, Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth II, Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, Princess Charlotte, Prince George, Rylan Litt, John Mulroney; front row, Ivy Mulroney, Florence van Cutsem, Zalie Warren, Remi Litt.
Samir Hussein/WireImage
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh during the transfer of the Colonel-in-Chief of The Rifles at Windsor Castle on July 22, 2020, in Windsor, England. The Duke of Edinburgh has been Colonel-in-Chief of The Rifles since its formation in 2007. HRH served as Colonel-in-Chief of successive Regiments which now make up The Rifles since 1953. The Duchess of Cornwall was appointed Royal Colonel of 4th Battalion The Rifles in 2007.
