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Everything we know about Prince Philip's funeral

Rebecca Taylor
·Royal Correspondent
·Lesedauer: 9 Min.

Watch: Prince Philip set for green funeral

Prince Philip's funeral is to be held at Windsor Castle with just 30 mourners, as the day's events will adhere to current COVID guidelines.

It's a much smaller ceremony than had been in the plans, known as Operation Forth Bridge, throughout his life.

But many of the arrangements for the 17 April still follow the late Duke of Edinburgh's wishes.

Yahoo UK looks at what we know about the day.

When and where is the Duke of Edinburgh's funeral being held?

Prince Philip's funeral will be held in Windsor Castle on 17 April.

There will be a procession through the castle grounds, beginning at about 2.40pm, with the service starting at 3pm inside St George's Chapel.

Royal watchers will recognise the chapel as the venue for the weddings of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, and Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank.

WINDSOR, UNITED KINGDOM - 2021/04/12: Castle workers stand on guard at the entrance of Windsor Castle. Windsor prepares for the funeral of the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip who died at Windsor Castle on Friday aged 99. (Photo by Thomas Krych/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
The entrance of Windsor Castle, where the funeral of the Duke of Edinburgh will be held. (SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Will the Duke of Edinburgh's funeral be on television?

Yes, Prince Philip's funeral will be aired on television, on both BBC and ITV.

ITV confirmed on Wednesday it would broadcast Prince Philip – A Royal Funeral from 1.15pm on Saturday. Coverage will be hosted by Tom Bradby and Julie Etchingham.

On Thursday, the BBC confirmed its Saturday coverage would start at 12.30pm and be hosted by Huw Edwards and Sophie Raworth, with former Royal Marine JJ Chalmers. Chalmers is a friend of Prince Harry's who worked with him on the Invictus Games.

Edwards will also host a special programme on Friday evening, live from Windsor Castle at 7pm.

HRH The Duke of Edinburgh Remembered will include interviews with people set to play a key role in the funeral service and ceremonial procession.

Edwards will return from 8.10pm for a show reflecting on the day's events.

Radio 4 and Radio 5 Live will carry coverage from 2pm until 4.10pm, as will BBC local stations.

Who will be at Prince Philip's funeral?

The guest list for the funeral has had to shrink dramatically because of COVID regulations. Some 800 people would have been invited pre-coronavirus, but now that will be 30.

That figure does not include those who will be leading the ceremony, so will just be the friends and family of the duke.

The Queen will be there, as will the couple's children – Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward.

Charles, Anne, and Edward will have their spouses with them – Camilla, Timothy Laurence and Sophie.

Edward and Sophie will bring their children Louise and James, as Louise was at church at the Royal Chapel of All Saints in Windsor on Sunday, two days after the duke died.

WINDSOR, ENGLAND - JULY 22: 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. (Photo by Samir Hussein/ Samir Hussein/WireImage )
Prince Philip during the transfer of the Colonel-in-Chief of the Rifles at Windsor Castle in July 2020. His funeral will also be held at the castle. (Samir Hussein/WireImage)

Read more: Prince Philip's funeral: How the day will unfold

Prince William and Kate will be in attendance, as will Prince Harry, who flew over from the US to say goodbye to his grandpa.

But the Cambridge children will not be there, and nor will Harry's wife Meghan or their son Archie.

Peter Phillips will be there, and his sister Zara, who will likely attend with her husband Mike Tindall, but not their children.

Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice will be there, with their husbands.

Some of the Queen's cousins will also attend, including the Dukes of Kent and Gloucester and Princess Alexandra.

Philip's family from Germany will be there - including Prince Phillipp, Prince Donatus, and Prince Bernhard.

The last guest is Countess Mountbatten of Burma, who is a long time friend of Prince Philip.

Who will walk in the procession?

There will be a procession of nine people behind the Duke of Edinburgh's coffin as it is carried through the castle grounds to the chapel.

At the front will be Prince Charles and Princess Anne, the duke's oldest children.

Behind them will be Prince Edward and Prince Andrew.

Behind them will be the duke's grandsons, Prince William, Peter Phillips and Prince Harry.

At the back will be Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence, Anne's husband, and the Earl of Snowdon, who is Princess Margaret's son and the duke's nephew.

There will be members of the duke's household behind them.

Will the Queen have to sit alone?

It was confirmed on Thursday that the Queen would sit alone, as there will not be members of her household in the ceremony with her.

However she will have a lady-in-waiting with her in her car as she arrives at the chapel. The lady will attend as a member of staff not as a guest, but will wait in the nave, not in the quire.

It was previously thought Brigadier Miller-Bakewell would attend the ceremony and because he is part of "HMS Bubble" – the group of staff living with her at Windsor Castle – he could have sat with her.

He will be in the procession, behind the duke’s coffin with two pages and two valets, and will enter the chapel, but not be seated in the quire.

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II arrives for a service to mark the centenary of the burial of the Unknown Warrior ahead of Remembrance Sunday at Westminster Abbey in London on November 4, 2020. - In the small private ceremony, The Queen honoured the Unknown Warrior and the Royal Familys own associations with the First World War and the grave at Westminster Abbey. As part of the ceremony, a bouquet of flowers featuring orchids and myrtle - based on Her Majestys own wedding bouquet from 1947 - was placed on the grave of the Unknown Warrior in an act of remembrance. The gesture reflected the custom of Royal bridal bouquets being placed on the grave. (Photo by Aaron Chown / POOL / AFP) (Photo by AARON CHOWN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
The Queen at a service to mark the centenary of the burial of the Unknown Warrior at Westminster Abbey in November 2020. She'll sit alone and with a face mask on during the funeral. (Aaron Chown/ AFP)

Although COVID guidelines don't allow people to sit with anyone outside their household or bubble when indoors, it was also suggested the Queen could have formed a linked household with someone else.

Adam Wagner, human rights barrister, said "common sense should rule" when it came to deciding funeral seating arrangements.

He told Yahoo UK: "If she was 40 this would be different but she is 94. What if she faints? It is not about mastering the rules, it is about common sense."

Wagner pointed out there are six different ways in the guidance for bubbles, or linked households, to be formed.

He also said "the law does not apply to her", saying it was unlikely that the police would break up any seating arrangements during the duke's funeral.

He said it was "all about appearances".

Will the Royal Family have to wear face coverings?

The family members will wear face coverings, as that fits with current COVID guidelines.

They'll also have to maintain social distancing between bubbles or households, so people won't be sat near to anyone they don't live with.

It means others will be sat alone too - like Prince Harry, Peter Phillips and Princess Alexandra.

Watch: The Queen returns to royal duties after Duke of Edinburgh's death

What are the timings of the procession?

The duke's coffin will be moved from where it has been resting inside the castle at 2.40pm by a Bearer Party. This will be made up of people associated with his military relationships.

The coffin will be placed in a Land Rover which was specially designed and modified by Philip.

It will move from the state entrance of Windsor Castle to the chapel, flanked by military pallbearers.

The coffin will be led by members of the Band of the Grenadier Guards, which Philip was colonel of for 42 years.

There will also be members of the Royal Family and the duke's household behind the coffin, including long term private secretary Brigadier Archie Miller-Bakewell.

It will also include Prince William and Prince Harry - but they will be separated by their cousin Peter Phillips.

Prince Charles will be involved, but the Queen will not be in this procession.

The procession will take about eight minutes, from 2.45pm until 2.53pm. It will weave through the grounds of the castle, past the Round Tower, eventually getting to the West Steps of the chapel.

Britain's Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex (L), Britain's Sophie, Countess of Wessex, (R) and Britain's Lady Louise Windsor (C) attend Sunday service at the Royal Chapel of All Saints, at Royal Lodge, in Windsor on April 11, 2021, two days after the death of Prince Edward's father Britain's Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. - Queen Elizabeth II has described feeling a
Prince Edward, Sophie, Countess of Wessex, and their daughter Lady Louise Windsor at Sunday service at the Royal Chapel of All Saints, at Royal Lodge, two days after Prince Philip's death. (AFP)

Read more: Most Britons thought coverage of Prince Philip death was 'too much', poll shows

The procession will be lined by members of the Royal Navy, the Royal Marines, the Highlanders, the 4th Battalion Royal Regiment of Scotland and the Royal Air Force.

Through the whole procession, minute guns will be fired by the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery from the East Lawn at Windsor Castle and the Curfew Tower bell will toll.

The coffin will be received by a Guard of Honour and Band from the Rifles and the national anthem will play.

Members of different regiments across armed forces will be present at this moment, with the Piping Party playing "Still" and "Side".

There will be a national minute's silence at 3pm.

Reduced numbers mean many of those who take part in the procession will have to leave while the service is going on, so they will quietly disperse after playing their role, while the family enters the service.

What will happen during Prince Philip's funeral?

An order of service has not yet been released by the Palace, but there are some details of who will attend from the clergy.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, will be at the chapel, as will the Dean of Windsor, David Connor.

The clergy do not count as mourners, nor does the choir, though there will be just four singers at the service.

Where will Prince Philip be buried?

The Duke of Edinburgh will be interred in the Royal Vault in St George’s Chapel directly after the ceremony.

But this is not where he will stay, as his coffin will be moved when the Queen dies.

They will be taken together to be laid to rest at the King George VI memorial chapel in Windsor Castle.

Also here are the Queen's father King George VI, her sister Princess Margaret, and the Queen Mother.

The George VI Memorial Chapel in St George's Chapel, Windsor, where Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother was intered, after her funeral in Westminster Abbey. She was laid to rest alongside her husband, King George VI, who died in 1952. * The casket that contains the ashes of Princess Margaret, who died in February, is also being placed in the vault. (Photo by Tim Ockenden - PA Images/PA Images via Getty Images)
The George VI Memorial Chapel in St George's Chapel, Windsor, where Prince Philip will be laid to rest after the Queen dies. (PA)

Are there any public elements?

Members of the public are asked not to go to the castle on Saturday, because there will be no elements of the day that are visible from the outside.

The Palace is keen to ensure there are no crowds gathering, to avoid the spread of coronavirus.

The laying of flowers has been discouraged, though thousands of people have visited both Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace as well as other royal residences, to take bunches and pay respects.

It has been suggested that people make donations to charities the duke was associated with.