Philip, also known as the Duke of Edinburgh, died at the age of 99 on April 9 in Windsor Castle. He was the nation’s longest-lived consort – the name used to describe the wife of a ruling monarch – and was married to the 73-year-old queen.
Those in attendance will include senior members of the royal family, as well as close relatives and friends of the duke, including Bernhard, the Crown Prince of Baden, Penny Brabourne, Countess Mountbatten of Burma and Prince Donatus, Landgrave of Hesse.
Philip maintained close ties with the military community throughout his life after ending his naval service in 1953, including serving as captain general of the Royal Navy.
Funeral ceremony
Before the ceremony, the duke’s coffin – which will be draped with his personal flag and will have a sword, naval cap and a wreath placed on top – will be taken to the chapel at Windsor Castle in a procession led by the Grenadier Guard Band.
The vehicle will be followed in a procession on foot by senior family members, including Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew, Prince Edward, Prince William and Prince Harry. All will be dressed in civilian clothes.
Some of the duke’s closest aides, including his private secretary and personal protection officer, will also go in procession.
Meanwhile, the rest of the congregation, including Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall; Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge; Princess Beatrice; Princess Eugenie and other family members will drive to the chapel.
The wife of Prince Harry Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, who is pregnant with the couple’s second child, will not be present after her doctor advised her not to travel abroad.
The queen will arrive at the chapel separately, attended by a waiting lady.
A life of service
The pistols will be fired at one-minute intervals, and the bell of the curfew tower will come before the funeral service, while a national minute of silence will mark its beginning.
Inside the chapel, all members of the congregation will wear a face covering, as dictated by public health rules.
The Duke was intimately involved in planning his own funeral service, selecting music and ensuring that the ceremony reflected his military affiliations and personal interests.
The service will be led by the Dean of Windsor, the Right Reverend David Conner and the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and is expected to last 50 minutes. Among the readings will be Ecclesiastes 43 and John 11.
A four-person choir, accompanied by the organ, will sing selected duet pieces, including Benjamin Britten’s “Jubilee in C,” which he commissioned for the St. George’s Chapel choir. Under coronavirus restrictions, the congregation will not sing with the choir.
The choir will also sing an adaptation of Psalm 104, which the duke requested to be set to music by William Lovelady. The song was sung at a 75th anniversary concert by Prince Philip.
The dean will then give the praise, and the duke’s coffin will be lowered into the Royal Safe, where many members of the royal family were left to rest. The vault, placed under the chapel, was built by George III, who is one of several kings buried inside.
The safe will not be Philip’s last resting place. When the queen dies, she will be transferred to the memorial chapel of King George VI to sit next to her.
At the Duke’s request, the end of the funeral service will be marked by the Buglers of the Royal Marines calling “Action Stations,” an announcement that would traditionally be made on a naval warship to signify that all hands should go at battle stations.
The Archbishop of Canterbury will then deliver the Blessing. The ceremony will then end with the national anthem.
Prince Philip’s tributes came from those who wished well from all over the world, many of whom noted the extraordinary life of the duke and his service to the queen.
He joined the Royal Navy in 1939, the same year he first met Elizabeth and served in World War II. They married in 1947 and, after the queen’s accession to the throne in 1952, relinquished her rank of lieutenant commander to support her in her royal duties.
He played an active role in the royal family before retiring from public engagement in 2017.
The royal family went into a period of mourning two weeks after his death, and many UK broadcasters postponed key programs as a sign of respect.
Harry’s brother William, Duke of Cambridge, said that Prince Philip was an “extraordinary man and part of an extraordinary generation” with an “infectious sense of adventure”.
CNN’s Lauren Said-Moorhouse, Laura Smith-Spark, Angela Dewan, Sarah Dean, Luke McGee and Eoin McSweeney contributed to this report.