Prince Harry
Prince Harry, Meghan hope Kate and family can heal ‘privately and in peace’
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have wished Catherine, Princess of Wales, "health and healing" after she announced her cancer diagnosis.
Prince Harry and Meghan expressed hope that Catherine and her family may heal "privately and in peace" in a brief statement, reports BBC.
Catherine described the news as a "huge shock" after a "incredibly tough couple of months" on Friday.
She stated that she was "well" and "getting stronger every day".
The specifics of the cancer have not been disclosed. According to Kensington Palace, the princess is sure that she will fully recover, the report said.
What is known about Kate's cancer diagnosis
Catherine had abdominal surgery in January, although the presence of cancer was unknown at the time.
Following testing indicated the presence of cancer.
Harry and Meghan stood down as senior royals in January 2020.
They moved to California in June, citing a need for more room to raise their son, Archie. Lilibet, the second child, was born the following year.
King Charles was also recently diagnosed with cancer, and Harry went to London in early February to meet his father just one day after he began treatment. He did not meet his older brother during the trip.
King Charles ‘proud of Catherine for her courage’
Harry's relationship with his brother is said to have deteriorated since he made the announcement that he was leaving his royal responsibilities, the report also said.
Harry talked about his falling out with William in his book, “Spare”.
In recent years, the brothers have rarely been seen together.
8 months ago
Prince Harry, Britney Spears’ memoirs shortlisted for British Book Awards
The memoirs of Britney Spears and the Duke of Sussex Prince Harry have been shortlisted for Book of the Year at the British Book Awards.
Prince Harry's Spare, the best-selling book in 2023, is nominated in two categories, reports BBC.
It comes three decades after his father, the King, was crowned author of the year in 1990, the inaugural year for the awards.
This is the actor Pierce Brosnan thinks would make a ‘magnificent’ Bond
Other memoirs nominated include that of Star Trek's Sir Patrick Stewart and comic book figure Alan Partridge.
Britney Spears' much-anticipated autobiography, The Woman in Me, released in October 2023, was one of the year's best-selling autobiographies.
In the book, the pop sensation recounted her career and what it was like to be controlled by her father for 13 years while under conservatorship.
Prince Harry and Meghan pursued in their car by photographers in New York
She also discussed a medical abortion she had while dating Justin Timberlake in the early 2000s and the emotional impact it had on her.
The shortlist reflects the growing number of author-podcasters, with Steven Bartlett garnering two nominations for The Diary of a CEO, named after his hit podcast, and former cabinet minister Rory Stewart nominated for Politics on the Edge.
Yomi Adegoke's The List, which explores cancel culture and influencers, has also been shortlisted in two categories: Audiobook: Fiction and Debut Fiction.
Several of the shortlisted writers have BookTok hits, a hashtag with over 200 billion views on TikTok that refers to a community of book fans sharing their favourite readings and reviews, the report said.
Britney Spears' husband seeking financial support and attorneys' fees in divorce
9 months ago
Memoir is about saving royals from themselves: Prince Harry
Prince Harry has said he had enough material for two memoirs, but that he held back because he didn't think his father and brother would “ever forgive" him.
In an interview with British newspaper The Telegraph published Saturday, he also said that releasing his memoir wasn't an attempt “to collapse the monarchy. This is about trying to save them from themselves."
“And I know that I will get crucified by numerous people for saying that,” he said.
Harry's candid autobiography, “Spare,” sold 1.4 million English-language copies on the first day it was published. Many of its revelations and accusations were splashed across the global media this week. In the book, the 38-year-old revealed how his grief at the death of his mother, Princess Diana, affected him, and saw Harry detail his resentment at being the “spare to the heir."
“It could have been two books, put it that way,” Harry said in the interview. “But there are some things that have happened, especially between me and my brother, and to some extent between me and my father, that I just don’t want the world to know. Because I don’t think they would ever forgive me.”
Harry also said in the interview that he worried about William's children, saying he felt “a responsibility knowing that out of those three children, at least one will end up like me, the spare. And that hurts, that worries me.”
He said he felt this way despite William making it clear to him that “his kids are not my responsibility.”
Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace haven't commented on Harry's book or his string of media interviews to publicize it.
1 year ago
Prince Harry’s assertion of killing 25 in Afghanistan criticised by both enemies and allies
In a book full of startling revelations, Prince Harry’s assertion that he killed 25 people in Afghanistan is one of the most striking — and has drawn criticism from both enemies and allies.
In his memoir, “Spare,” Harry says he killed more than two dozen Taliban militants while serving as an Apache helicopter copilot gunner in Afghanistan in 2012-2013. He writes that he feels neither satisfaction nor shame about his actions, and in the heat of battle regarded enemy combatants as pieces being removed from a chessboard, “Baddies eliminated before they could kill Goodies.”
Harry has talked before about his combat experience, saying near the end of his tour in 2013 that “if there’s people trying to do bad stuff to our guys, then we’ll take them out of the game.”
But his decision to put a number on those he killed, and the comparison to chess pieces, drew outrage from the Taliban, and concern from British veterans.
“Mr. Harry! The ones you killed were not chess pieces, they were humans; they had families who were waiting for their return,” prominent Taliban member Anas Haqqani wrote Friday on Twitter.
The Taliban, who adhere to a strict interpretation of Islam, returned to power when Western troops withdrew from Afghanistan in 2021. Afghan Foreign Ministry spokesperson Abdul Qahar Balkhi said Harry’s comments “are a microcosm of the trauma experienced by Afghans at the hands of occupation forces who murdered innocents without any accountability.”
In Britain, some veterans and military leaders said publishing a head count violated an unspoken military code.
Col. Tim Collins, who led a British battalion during the Iraq war, told Forces News that the statement was “not how you behave in the Army; it’s not how we think.” Retired Royal Navy officer Rear Adm. Chris Parry called the claim “distasteful.”
Some questioned whether Harry could be sure of the toll, but Harry said he reviewed video of his missions, and “in the era of Apaches and laptops,” technology let him know exactly how many enemy combatants he had killed.
Read more: Prince Harry's memoir ‘Spare’ to narrate journey from ‘trauma to healing’
Others said Harry’s words could increase the security risk for him and for British forces around the world.
“I don’t think it is wise that he said that out loud,” Royal Marines veteran Ben McBean, who knows Harry from their military days, told Sky News. “He’s already got a target on his back, more so than anyone else.”
Retired Army Col. Richard Kemp told the BBC the claim was “an error of judgment” that would be “potentially valuable to those people who wish the British forces and British government harm.”
Harry lost his publicly funded U.K. police protection when he and his wife Meghan quit royal duties in 2020. Harry is suing the British government over its refusal to let him pay personally for police security when he comes to Britain.
Tens of thousands of British troops served in Afghanistan, and more than 450 died, between the U.S.-led invasion in 2001 and the end of U.K. combat operations in 2014.
Harry spent a decade in the British Army, serving twice in Afghanistan. He spent 10 weeks as a forward air controller in 2007-2008 until a media leak cut short his tour.
He retrained as a helicopter pilot with the British Army Air Corps so he could have the chance to return to the front line. He was part of a two-man crew whose duties ranged from supporting ground troops in firefights to accompanying helicopters as they evacuated wounded soldiers.
Harry has described his time in the army as the happiest of his life because it let him be “one of the guys” rather than a prince. After leaving the military in 2015 he founded the Invictus Games, an international sports competition for sick and injured veterans.
Read more: Prince Harry says William called Meghan “difficult, rude and abrasive” before physical attack
Harry's memoir is due to be published around the world on Tuesday. The Associated Press obtained an early Spanish-language copy.
1 year ago
Prince Harry's memoir ‘Spare’ to narrate journey from ‘trauma to healing’
Prince Harry’s memoir, an object of obsessive anticipation worldwide since first announced last year, is coming out Jan. 10.
The book will be called “Spare” and is being billed by Penguin Random House, as an account told with “raw, unflinching honesty” and filled with ”insight, revelation, self-examination, and hard-won wisdom about the eternal power of love over grief.”
In a statement released Thursday, Penguin Random House summoned memories of the stunning death in 1997 of Prince Harry’s mother, Diana, and of Harry and his brother, William, “walking behind their mother’s coffin as the world watched in sorrow — and horror.”
“As Diana, Princess of Wales, was laid to rest, billions wondered what the princes must be thinking and feeling — and how their lives would play out from that point on,” the statement reads in part.
“For Harry, this is his story at last.”
The memoir’s title is an apparent reference to Prince Harry’s being a royal “spare,” not the first in line to succession. William, Prince of Wales, is next in line.
The 416-page book will come out in 16 languages, from Dutch to Portuguese, and also will be released in an audio edition read by Prince Harry. Financial terms were not disclosed, but Harry, the Duke of Sussex, will be using proceeds from “Spare” to donate to British charities. He has already given $1.5 million to Sentebale, an organization he co-founded with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho to help children and young people in Lesotho and Botswana affected by HIV/AIDS.
Penguin Random House identifies Prince Harry as “a husband, father, humanitarian, military veteran, mental wellness advocate, and environmentalist.”
Read: Meghan addresses youth summit on UK visit with Prince Harry
Royals watchers and the public at large have speculated endlessly since the book was first announced in July 2021, billed as “intimate and heartfelt” and tentatively scheduled for this year.
The Duke of Sussex had already revealed a news-making willingness to discuss his private life when he and his American-born wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, were interviewed for a March 2021 broadcast by their neighbor in Santa Barbara, California, Oprah Winfrey. The couple spoke of Meghan’s deep unhappiness with her new life in England, the alleged racism within the royal family and Harry’s fear that his wife’s life might be endangered had they remained in his native country.
In 1992, Diana worked with author Andrew Morton on her explosive memoir “Diana: Her True Story,” in which she described at length her unhappy marriage to the future King Charles, Harry’s father.
Harry and Meghan stepped back from their royal duties in 2020 and moved to the U.S. Harry told Winfrey that his family cut him off financially and that he helped pay for his security with money left to him by his mother. They have launched numerous initiatives, including a Netflix production deal and the “impact-driven non-profit” Archewell Foundation.
The book’s delay led to rumors that Harry was hesitating to say too much about his family, or was perhaps revising the narrative after his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, died in September. He has spoken of being estranged from his brother, William, although the siblings and their wives appeared in public together during the mourning period following the Queen’s death.
“Penguin Random House is honored to be publishing Prince Harry’s candid and emotionally powerful story for readers everywhere,” the global CEO of Penguin Random House, Markus Dohle, said in a statement. “He shares a remarkably moving personal journey from trauma to healing, one that speaks to the power of love and will inspire and encourage millions of people around the world.”
2 years ago
Public can pay respects to Queen Elizabeth at Edinburgh cathedral
Queen Elizabeth II's grandson Prince Harry hailed her Monday as a “guiding compass” and praised her “unwavering grace and dignity," as members of the public were to get the chance to pay their respects to the monarch when her coffin lies at rest at St. Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh.
The personal statement, posted on Harry and his wife Meghan’s Archwell website, said he cherished their times together “from my earliest childhood memories with you, to meeting you for the first time as my Commander-in-Chief, to the first moment you met my darling wife and hugged your beloved greatgrandchildren.”
Amid acrimony in the House of Windsor, Harry quit as a senior royal and moved to the U.S. two years ago. On Saturday, there was a possible sign of a reconciliation as Harry and Meghan joined his brother Prince William and sister-in-law Catherine in meeting mourners outside Windsor Castle.
Also read: Rules issued for paying respects to the queen
Harry's statement came at the start of another day steeped in the historic pageantry and pomp that follows the death of a British sovereign.
King Charles III was starting the day speaking to lawmakers at Parliament in London before flying to Scotland.
Hundreds of lawmakers crowded into the 1,000-year-old Westminster Hall at the Houses of Parliament for a service in which Parliament will offer its condolences to the king, and he will reply.
A trumpet fanfare greeted the king and his wife Camilla, the Queen Consort, as they entered the hall, which was packed with hundreds of legislators.
Also read: Queen’s coffin leaves Scottish estate for last journey back to London
The Speakers of the House of Commons and House of Lords were offering condolences on the death of Queen Elizabeth II, and Charles will make a speech in reply.
The hall, with its magnificent hammer-beam roof, is the oldest part of the parliamentary complex — a remnant of the medieval Palace of Westminster that once stood on the site.
The ceremony was being held in Westminster Hall because monarchs are not allowed inside the House of Commons. That rule dates from the 17th century, when King Charles I tried to enter and arrest lawmakers. That confrontation between crown and Parliament led to a civil war which ended with the king being beheaded in 1649.
On Sunday, thousands of people lined streets and roadsides as the oak coffin was borne from the late queen's beloved Balmoral Castle summer retreat, where she died on Thursday, to Edinburgh.
The new king will fly to Edingburgh later and will walk behind his mother's coffin as it is slowly transported from Holyroodhouse to St. Giles' Cathedral, where the crown of Scotland will be placed on the coffin ahead of a service of prayer and reflection on the life and 70-year reign of the widely cherished monarch.
The queen's coffin will lie at the cathedral for 24 hours, giving members of the public a chance to file past and pay their respects. On Tuesday, it will be flown to London where the coffin will lie in state at the Houses of Parliament Palace from Wednesday afternoon until the morning of the funeral on Sept. 19.
Authorities already have issued rules and guidelines for people wanting to pay their respects in London, with a long queue expected.
After visiting Scotland, Charles embarks on a tour of the other nations that make up the United Kingdom — he visits the Northern Ireland capital, Belfast, on Tuesday and Wales on Friday.
Harry's statement ended on a poignant note alluding to the death last year of his grandfather, Prince Philip, saying that “We, too, smile knowing that you and grandpa are reunited now, and both together in peace.”
2 years ago
Meghan addresses youth summit on UK visit with Prince Harry
Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, has made her first speech in Britain since she and Prince Harry quit as working royals two years ago.
Delivering a keynote speech to the One Young World summit on Monday, Meghan spoke of her self-doubt as “the girl from Suits” when she attended the same youth event in 2014 alongside world leaders and humanitarian activists.
The duchess, formerly known as Meghan Markle, was best known for her acting role in the TV drama “Suits” before she married Harry.
Also read: Meghan pays respect to Texas school shooting victims
“I was allowed in, to pull up a seat at the table," Meghan told about 2,000 young people gathered in Manchester, England. “I was so overwhelmed by this experience, I think I even saved my little paper place-marker with my name on it."
“Just proof — proof that I was there, proof that I belonged, because the truth was, I wasn’t sure that I belonged," she said.
Meghan and Harry stepped down as senior royals and moved to the U.S. in 2020. They were in the U.K. for the first time since Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee in June, when the couple appeared briefly at a thanksgiving service.
Also read: Meghan and Harry welcome second child, Lilibet ‘Lili’ Diana
They travelled to the Manchester event by train from London. Their next stop is Germany, where they will attend an event Tuesday counting down to the Invictus Games 2023, before returning to London where Harry will deliver a speech at a charity ceremony on Thursday.
2 years ago
‘I was afraid’: Prince Harry, Oprah discuss mental health
For Harry, returning to London to attend Prince Philip’s funeral last month meant once more facing a place where he felt trapped and hunted by cameras. It would be a test of his ability to cope with the anxiety that was bubbling up again.
“I was worried about it, I was afraid,” Harry told The Associated Press during a recent joint interview with Oprah Winfrey to promote a mental-health series they co-created and co-executive produced for Apple TV+.
He was able to work through any trepidation using coping skills learned in therapy.
Also read: Prince Harry thought about quitting royal life in his 20s
“It definitely made it a lot easier, but the heart still pounds,” said Harry, the Duke of Sussex and grandson of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II and her late husband Philip.
In “The Me You Can’t See,” which debuted Thursday night on Apple’s streaming service, Harry reveals that he first saw a therapist approximately four years ago at the encouragement of then-girlfriend Meghan. They’d had an argument and she recognized his anger seemed misplaced.
The series is another chapter in the unprecedented openness that Harry has brought to his life and his royal family relationships since stepping away from his duties and moving with his wife to California. In March, he and Meghan gave a headline-making interview to Winfrey that elicited a rare public response from the palace.
Harry’s self-work may be relatively recent but he and older brother William, The Duke of Cambridge, have long championed the importance of mental health. In 2016, Harry, William and his wife Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, launched Heads Together, an initiative to speak up and not be ashamed to ask for help when mental well-being is at stake.
Their collective work led to interactions with people across the globe, from all walks of life, and they recognized a common thread. “Sharing your story in order to be able to save a life or help others is absolutely critical,” said Harry.
Harry is practicing what he preaches and laying bare his own struggles with trauma and grief. He describes in “The Me You Can’t See,” the instances of feeling helpless as a young boy while riding in the car with his mother, Princess Diana, who cried as they were surrounded by paparazzi and she struggled to drive.
Years later, Diana was killed in Paris after the car she and friend Dodi Fayed were riding in, crashed during a high-speed chase to flee cameras. Harry was 12 and suppressed his own feelings to meet the mourning public gathered outside Kensington Palace.
Cameras rolled and snapped away as he walked behind her casket to Diana’s funeral, alongside William, father Prince Charles, Philip and Diana’s brother Charles Spencer.
Harry’s revelations coincide with Queen Elizabeth’s official confirmation a few months ago that he and Meghan will not return to their senior royal positions within the family, following a one-year trial period.
Also read: Royal funeral offers chance for William, Harry to reconcile
The couple now lives about 90 minutes north of Los Angeles in an exclusive area near Santa Barbara called Montecito. They count Winfrey, Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom as neighbors. The paparazzi still lurks but it’s less intense than in Los Angeles.
This new, outspoken prince who shares his emotions is a contrast to the “never complain, never explain,” “keep calm and carry on” mantras that are part of the prototypical British way.
The British tabloids have had a field day picking apart his statements. Some royal commentators have also cried foul over a contradiction between seeking a private life yet granting interviews and revealing family strife.
Harry appears to be cautious in choosing what he wants to speak about, and neither he nor Meghan seem interested in sharing their every move with the world. They do not operate a social media account.
He is undeterred by naysayers, he says, because there’s a greater good in being honest about his struggles. “I see it as a responsibility. I don’t find it hard to open up,” he said. “Knowing the impacts and the positive reaction that it has for so many people that also suffer, I do believe it’s a responsibility.”
Winfrey was already working with Apple to develop a series on mental health when a conversation with Harry sparked the idea to join forces.
“We were having a conversation and I asked him, ‘What are the two most important issues you think facing the world today?’ And he said immediately, ‘climate change and mental health.’ She mentioned the project and Winfrey recalls him later saying , ‘Oh, by the way, if you ever need any help with that … give me a call.’ And I went and turned around and said, ‘What’s your number?’”
Winfrey’s existing partnership with Apple created a rare opportunity to reach the vast number of people who use the company’s devices, Harry said.
“If that’s in a billion pockets on a billion screens, then maybe we can really start a global conversation about this,” he said.
Winfrey recalls some of her own childhood traumas in “The Me You Can’t See.” In addition to her and Harry’s stories, the series also features accounts from both regular people and celebrities including Lady Gaga and Glenn Close, who speak candidly about their own experiences with mental illness.
Winfrey said Harry pushed to present a global perspective. “This has got to be a world thing and not just a U.S. thing,’” she recounted him saying, adding: “I think we’ve accomplished that really well.”
Harry jokes he’s “slowly catching up” to Winfrey’s decades of inner-work and encouragement of others to do the same whether on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” or her “Super Soul Sunday” interviews on OWN. Even Winfrey said she’s had a lot to learn.
“I have dealt personally with one of the girls from my school (Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa), who had schizophrenia,” Winfrey said. “Only after hearing the doctor say that ‘it’s a diagnosis. It’s not your life, it’s not who you are,’ that I had my great awakening about it. ... ‘That is not you. You are a person who has a diagnosis of schizophrenia.’ That is powerful.”
3 years ago
Harry, William seen chatting together after royal funeral
A year after they last saw one another, Prince William and his brother Prince Harry put their fraught relationship aside as they said farewell to their grandfather at his funeral on Saturday.
The brothers were somber and silent as they walked together in a procession behind Prince Philip’s coffin before his funeral at Windsor Castle along with their father, Prince Charles, and other close relatives. They were seen chatting and walking together after the service concluded.
It was the first time the brothers had been together in public since Harry stood down from royal duties and moved to the U.S. with his wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, and their son Archie in early 2020.
Tensions between Harry, 36, and William, 38, came to the fore after Harry and Meghan gave a revealing interview to U.S. talk show host Oprah Winfrey last month. The couple portrayed the royal family as indifferent to Meghan’s mental health struggles, and Harry described his relationship with William as “space at the moment.”
On Saturday, William and Harry walked in silence on either side of their cousin, Peter Phillips, as they joined other senior royals in Philip’s funeral procession. At one point Phillips fell behind slightly to allow the brothers to walk side by side — a visual echo of the moment the pair, as boys in 1997, walked behind the coffin of their mother Princess Diana in another royal funeral televised around the world.
The brothers sat opposite each other in St. George’s Chapel for the funeral, which was attended by only 30 people because of coronavirus restrictions. While William sat next to his wife Kate, Harry was on his own because Meghan is pregnant with their second child and was advised by her doctor not to make the long trip.
Afterwards, Harry, William and Kate strolled together outside the chapel. Moments later, the brothers walked together alone while Kate spoke to Zara Tindall, another of Queen Elizabeth II’s eight grandchildren who is William and Harry’s cousin.
Rumors of a rift between the brothers — William, the heir, and Harry, the “spare” — have rumbled at least since 2019. That’s when Harry and Meghan separated from the Royal Foundation, originally set up as the brothers’ joint charitable venture, to set up their own platform. That year, Harry said he loved his brother dearly but they were “on different paths” and have “good days” and “bad days.”
Many believe that William was angered and hurt by Harry’s decision to speak so publicly about the royal family’s issues during the Winfrey interview. In one explosive allegation, they said a family member — not the queen or Philip — had expressed “concerns” about Archie’s possible skin color before he was born. Meghan has a Black mother and a white father.
Days after the interview aired, William insisted “we are very much not a racist family,” and said he had not spoken to Harry since the broadcast.
It’s unclear whether the passing of their grandfather will help the brothers heal their rift. It wasn’t immediately clear how long Harry, who has been self-isolating in line with the U.K.’s coronavirus restrictions since arriving from California early this week, will stay in his home country.
Saturday’s funeral was limited to only 30 people, who all had to wear masks, sit in family bubbles and remain socially distanced in the same church that had hosted hundreds of people for Harry and Meghan’s royal wedding in 2018. And Britain’s continued coronavirus restrictions may limit how much opportunity the brothers will get to smooth over their differences.
“Because of the restrictions of COVID, it’s difficult to get down to decent conservations,” said royal biographer Penny Junor. “It’s probably quite difficult to sit down as they normally would over a beer and discuss things.”
3 years ago
Princes William, Harry won’t walk side-by-side at funeral
Prince William and Prince Harry won’t walk side-by-side Saturday as they follow their grandfather’s coffin into the church ahead of Prince Philip’s funeral, minimizing the chances of any awkward moments between the brothers who are grappling with strained relations since Harry’s decision to step away from royal duties last year.
Buckingham Palace on Thursday released the broad outlines of the funeral program for Queen Elizabeth II’s husband, who died April 9 at 99. The palace revealed that William and Harry’s cousin, Peter Phillips, will walk between the princes as they escort the coffin to St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, west of London.
Prince Charles, the heir to the throne and the father of the princes, together with his sister, Princess Anne, will lead the 15-member procession.
The brothers had been closely watched as Saturday’s funeral will almost certainly remind the pair of their shared grief at another royal funeral more than two decades ago. As young boys, both walked behind their mother Princess Diana’s coffin in 1997 in London in a ceremony watched around the world.
Also read: Prince Philip, husband of Queen Elizabeth II, dies aged 99
Palace officials refused to comment when asked whether the positioning of William and Harry was an effort to minimize family tensions, which have grown after Harry and his wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, gave an explosive interview to Oprah Winfrey that suggested an unnamed member of the royal family had made a racist comment to Harry before the birth of their child Archie.
Meghan, who is pregnant and living in California with Harry, is not coming to the funeral on the advice of her doctor.
“We’re not going to be drawn into those perceptions of drama or anything like that,” a palace spokesman said while speaking on condition of anonymity in line with policy. “This is a funeral and the arrangements have been agreed and they represent Her Majesty’s wishes.”
In another effort to preserve family unity, the palace said senior royals would wear civilian clothes to the funeral. The decision, signed off by the queen, means that Harry won’t risk being the only member of the royal family not in uniform during the funeral.
Members of the royal family often wear uniforms to public events by virtue of their honorary roles with the British Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force, but Harry lost his honorary military titles when he decided to give up frontline royal duties last year. As a result, protocol suggests that Harry, an army veteran who served two tours of duty in Afghanistan, would only wear a suit with medals at royal functions.
The decision also sidesteps another potential controversy after reports that Prince Andrew, the queen’s second-oldest son, considered wearing an admiral’s uniform to his father’s funeral. Andrew retains his military titles even though he was forced to step away from royal duties after a disastrous interview with the BBC about his acquaintance with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Also read: AP PHOTOS: Prince Philip's lifetime in the royal spotlight
Attendance at the funeral will be limited to 30 people because of the coronavirus restrictions in England. The list will include several of Philip’s relatives from Germany, together with immediate members of the royal family. The children in the family will not attend.
Guests will wear masks inside the chapel and observe social distancing. The queen, always the first to set an example, will also wear a mask.
In other details released about the funeral, Royal Marine buglers will play “Action Stations,” an alarm that alerts sailors to prepare for battle.
Philip, also known as the Duke of Edinburgh, served in the Royal Navy for 12 years and maintained close ties to the armed forces throughout his life. Military personnel will have a large role in honoring him Saturday despite the attendance limit.
Members of the Royal Navy, the Royal Marines, the Royal Air Force and the British Army will take part in the funeral procession. Philip’s coffin will be carried to St. George’s Chapel on a specially adapted Land Rover that he designed himself.
On Thursday, Charles and his wife Camilla visited Marlborough House in central London to see a sea of floral tributes for Philip, which have been moved there from the gates of Buckingham Palace.
Also read: Too much? BBC gets complaints over Prince Philip coverage
The couple spent some time looking at the cards and notes with the flowers. The items left in tribute included a model of a Land Rover similar to the one that will bear Philip’s coffin on Saturday, with the words “The Duke R.I.P” on the roof.
3 years ago