Glad to see that the dukes of Gloucester and Kent, as princess Alexandra, were not unfairly forgotten, as some members suggested.
But their spouses are forgotten - from the list, I see there was no way to include them.
Glad to see that the dukes of Gloucester and Kent, as princess Alexandra, were not unfairly forgotten, as some members suggested.
The modified Land Rover that will carry Philip's coffin
It haven't read anywhere that James is waking with the coffin?
Glad to see all his grand children are attending, although bit sad that James isn't walking with the coffin. He is quite young to be fair.
According to Twitter he is not walking with the coffin; he’s going to arrive with his mum and sister. I imagine it’s because he is quite young or it’s personal choice?
I really like the fact that all official flags in Denmark will be on half-mast on saturday on command of HM queen Margrethe, because she wants to highlight the fact that Philip was a prince of Denmark, too. Even though his sisters had married into former reigning families of Germany, Philip himself never was a German, neither by citizenship nor by male-line descent. His father was a Greek and Danish prince, his mother a British princess from a family who had given up their German roots to stick with Britain. Plus the family Alice was from, a minor branch of the Hesse-family, was in their male-line descent a family from the "Middle Realm", the empire Charlemagne's son Lothar had inherited which went in-between France and Germany from Flanders and the Netherlands down to Rome. Their founder had, during Lothar's reign, kidnapped one of Lothar's daughters and married her, thus founding a family who for more than1100 years held reigning positions throughout Europe.
That's the Battenberg/Mountbatten-descent and something Philip could have been proud of, I believe. But traditionally you are going by the father's ancestry and that was Danish (though of course with German blood through the princesses who had married into the family).
But their spouses are forgotten - from the list, I see there was no way to include them.
The Duchess of Kent is i think not in the best health so that could also be a reason and of course the limted number of people who can attend.
And no Prince Michael of Kent... I don’t know about the health of Prince Michael but as he is as closely related to Philip as his attending siblings (while the Duke of Gloucester is only distantly related) i suspect there is health issues involved...
I suspect that since the Kents are already represented twice that a decision was made to cut him to include others. It has happened at many, many funerals in the last year. He might have health issues that made it a wise idea anyway but it's more likely a numbers thing. Unfortunately.
Nobody is trying to hide anything. Even if they did these things get brought up by all and sundry as soon as anyone, the royals themselves included, dares to put any label on a Protestant royal that's other than German. To say that the Oldenburgs are exclusively German ignores the fact that they've been on the Danish throne for 600 years and also ignores the very complex ethnic and linguistic composition of the pre-1848 Danish realm where ethnicity, language spoken and national identity rarely went hand in hand. Philip himself identified as Danish (or Scandinavian) and that's good enough for me.I am really surprised by these kind of statements.
For centuries Denmark was ruled by German Oldenburg dynasty which only married German princesses for centuries...later Denmark was ruled and still is by collateral branch of that same Oldenburg dynasty, Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg branch, which also came from Germany in mid 19th century to rule in Denmark.
Maybe Philip was born Prince of Greece and Denmark, but he didn't have a drop of either Greek or Danish blood for centuries. Out of his 128 nearest ancestors only 3 of them were NOT ethnically German (one French, Italian and Polish) and all 3 of them came through Princess Julia von Battenberg.
Maybe Philip didn't have German citizenship, nor officially German titles, but that doesn't change the fact that based on his ancestry he was German by blood from top to toe...whether someone like it or not. Britain, Russia, Greece and Denmark were all ruled by various German dynasties which spread all over Europe and intermarried almost only with other German dynasties.
His father was Prince of Greece with no Greek blood, his grandfather was Danish prince with no Danish blood, his grandmother Grand Duchess of Russia with almost no Russian blood. Ethnically they were Germans from German dynasties and that's a fact.
I just don't know what is wrong with that, what is wrong with saying yes, he had exclusively German ancestry? What is wrong with saying facts? Is it a some sort of shame or what?
Those are facts which everybody can see in his ancestry chart and that almost everybody is trying to hide somehow, based on his birth place, citizenship, how he privately felt etc.
It's an odd decision to have Peter in between William and Harry, though - you'd think it'd be in order of age, so William'd be in the middle, and it's bound to attract attention that they won't be next to each other. I hardly think they're likely to start a punch-up if Peter isn't in the middle to referee, so I'm not sure what that's about.
It is actually a logical decision, as normally person who is more important/higher in ranking will be placed at middle. In this case it ranks by age, so the higher ranking (Peter) will be in middle, while the younger (William and Harry) will be in Peter's each side. (Yes the media is going to fuss about it but it's how thing normally work.)
How is Peter higher ranking than William?
How is Peter higher ranking than William?
It is actually a logical decision, as normally person who is more important/higher in ranking will be placed at middle. In this case it ranks by age, so the higher ranking (Peter) will be in middle, while the younger (William and Harry) will be in Peter's each side. (Yes the media is going to fuss about it but it's how thing normally work.)
By age- since Peter is older. If the order is somehow age related and the middle person is considered highest ranking- Peter is in the middle as the oldest. And that’s why William and Harry are separated.
Nevertheless- people will talk about William and Harry not standing together under the known circumstances.
By age- since Peter is older. If the order is somehow age related and the middle person is considered highest ranking- Peter is in the middle as the oldest. And that’s why William and Harry are separated.
Nevertheless- people will talk about William and Harry not standing together under the known circumstances.
“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.”
I suspect that since the Kents are already represented twice that a decision was made to cut him to include others. It has happened at many, many funerals in the last year. He might have health issues that made it a wise idea anyway but it's more likely a numbers thing. Unfortunately.
New release of info (at 5pm as I predicted lol) - all from Rebeca English twitter as first I could find
*The Queen, accompanied by a lady in waiting, will wear a mask throughout proceedings and follow her husband’s funeral procession in her official Bentley.
*Palace officials confirm the Mail’s story today that senior royals will not wear uniform. Instead they will be morning/day dress with medals.
*William & Harry will not walk shoulder to shoulder when they join senior royals for the funeral procession. Cousin Peter Philips will be in between them.
From telegraph
There will be no congregational singing during the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral.
A small choir of 4, comprising 3 lay clarks from the St George’s Chapel choir and a soprano, who is a member of the St George’s community, will perform each piece of music
Express has guest list
https://www.express.co.uk/news/roya...who-is-going-to-Duke-of-Edinburgh-funeral-evg
The full list of guests at Prince Philip’s funeral is as follows:
The Queen
The Prince of Wales
The Duchess of Cornwall
The Duke of Cambridge
The Duchess of Cambridge
The Duke of Sussex
The Duke of York
Princess Beatrice
Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi
Princess Eugenie
Jack Brooksbank
The Earl of Wessex
The Countess of Wessex
Lady Louise Windsor
Viscount Severn
The Princess Royal
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
I think Peter is in the middle because he is the eldest. There is also something in the Daily Mail about them ending up walking in twos once they arrive at the chapel so William will move ahead at some point (to be joined by Catherine?).
I’m surprised Prince Michael of Kent not being there. I thought maybe he would have been there over Daniel Chatto given all the other cousins are there.
My son in California, younger than Harry got a vaccine a month ago. They are prioritizing by type of work you do, not just age. Teachers in Massachusetts and child care workers able to be vaccinated March 11 for example. Some states are doing it strictly by age, many other aren’tOkay, I was not aware of that. It seems in most places it still people in their 50s and 60s. Where I live those in their 30s who are not at high risk can not get it yet.
In my ears, it would have been very logic to cut a spouse off the list if Prince Michael really wanted to attend... He is closely related through Princess Marina and was even a page-boy at the wedding in 1947
We know that Princess Michael caught Covid-19 last year and was quite badly affected so perhaps it affected him too...
Also surprised to see no Lady Pamela Hicks among the names, but perhaps she has been adviced to not attend for health reasons... She is 91 after all