Prince Philips Funeral.

It was both incredibly sad and beautiful heart wrenching. Such pride in the sensitivity yet professionalism of our military in each of their roles.

How beautifully calm, dignified and moving it was. The choice of music was wonderful;

'I vow to thee, my country, all earthly things above,
Entire and whole and perfect, the service of my love'.

How well those lines sum up his life of duty, and that of the Queen. 'Such a small, bent and sad figure - I too wish she had had a family member to sit close to her.

I concur with the comments already made. What a fitting ceremony for PP and the family.

I’d go so far as to think that this scaled down event could be taken into the future so that the family can mourn in peace without all the press pushing and shoving for the best picture. It was so dignified.

I feel so sad for the Queen. Seventy three years is a life time of togetherness.

My heart went out to our queen. She looked so little ,sad and alone. It was a lovely fitting service. I'm not usually soppy but I shed a tear or two.

I rather think the Queen chose to sit alone - that is how she feels now and wanted everyone to see. I also think she was showing solidarity with all her subjects who have had to do the very same thing. I do hope she has the strength to carry on.

I found the whole service very moving and also felt really proud to be British. We really can put on an impressive occasion can’t we ? It was perfect. I kept thinking of all the countries in the world who would be watching and how wonderful it looked. As there were only 30 mourners allowed I was surprised that on3vwas Prince Philips lady friend. Than must have been a difficult decision to make but she did look very sad but really elegant as did everyone.

What I found touching, if not a bit strange was that after all the military presence, that after the service, the family walked out of the chapel and there was nobody about - all the members of the armed forces had gone.
Lovely to see all the family walk back up to the castle rather go in separate cars. I have to wonder if Princess Anne or even the Queen had turned round to them all as they left the vault and said "Are you coming back for a cup of tea ?"
Apparently Price Philip's lead lined coffin was lowered into the vault by an electric lift and he will only rest there until the Queen dies when he will be moved and both will be placed into the King George V1 chapel

It was a very moving funeral. Correct me if I am wrong but I did not see any of the BAME community taking part. That surprised me. Perhaps there were some among the soldiers outside?

Very moving and poignant funeral. Upsetting seeing Queen sitting alone. Sad day for our country.

Annaram1 yes you are wrong. The bearer team that lead the coffin from the castle to the hearse was. Not sure how you tell when all heads were bent.

I sat watching with a mixture of love, pride and sadness.
It was as near to perfection as any event can get.

Apart from the necessary social distancing the service was perfect and reflected the man. All the words that describe him were in the service somewhere - loyal, honourable, true, devoted, integrity, The verbal passages were wonderful, quietly and movingly read.
He could be testy but will be much missed from the public stage. He was an inspiring example of behaviour and leadership. True to himself. A true knight.
Oh that fabulous choral music!
It was all very moving. We don't know the full extent of what we've lost until it has gone. Brave queen too.
I watched it on BBC and they were respectful and didn't seem to intrude.

Whitewavemark2

This moved me

“LOOK at the rainbow and praise its Maker; it shines with a supreme beauty, rounding the sky with its gleaming arc, a bow bent by the hands of the Most High. His command speeds the snow storm and sends the swift lightning to execute his sentence. To that end the storehouses are opened, and the clouds fly out like birds. By his mighty power the clouds are piled up and the hailstones broken small. The crash of his thunder makes the earth writhe, and, when he appears, an earthquake shakes the hills. At his will the south wind blows, the squall from the north and the hurricane. He scatters the snow-flakes like birds alighting; they settle like a swarm of locusts. The eye is dazzled by their beautiful whiteness, and as they fall the mind is entranced. He spreads frost on the earth like salt, and icicles form like pointed stakes. A cold blast from the north, and ice grows hard on the water, settling on every pool, as though the water were putting on a breastplate. He consumes the hills, scorches the wilderness, and withers the grass like fire. Cloudy weather quickly puts all to rights, and dew brings welcome relief after heat. By the power of his thought he tamed the deep and planted it with islands. Those who sail the sea tell stories of its dangers, which astonish all who hear them; in it are strange and wonderful creatures, all kinds of living things and huge sea-monsters. By his own action he achieves his end, and by his word all things are held together.”

I think this together with Psalm 104 reflected Philips love for the natural world.

The Flowers of the Forest finished me off!!

Such a beautiful piece. I thought it was a shame that David Conner read it in such a monotone voice. I appreciate this was a funeral but the words shout out such energy. Without Covid, it would have been wonderful to hear an actor deliver this reading.

Sometimes you want to be alone. Appropriate. The succour of ritual and art can offer more than sentiment at such a time. She was driven there and back with her trusted lady in waiting an old friend. It’s not as if nobody wanted to sit with her! It was her choice, if she had wanted someone protocol would have allowed. She wanted to be alone with her departed husband first in mind. Good for her.

The lone piper as the coffin was interred.. Everything else so still and quiet.. I literally held my breath, simply heartbreaking ?

LizH, Thank you for that. I am glad I got it wrong.

There were a good number of BAME members of the Armed Forces present, some of whom were officers. There is no colour bar in the services - not even in the household division regiments. If you apply you have as good a chance as anyone of being accepted. What I particularly like to see are the number of women in regiments like the household cavalry regiments and Kings Troop, the Royal Horse Artillery.

I did wonder why the Queen's Lady in Waiting did not sit with her. They rode together in the car.

I thought it was incredibly well done, we are the best in the world at these occasions. So many touching moments I cried several times. I vow to me my country always finishes me off!

Charles and Anne looked shell shocked I really felt for them . The music was lovely and the piper and last post particularly poignant.

RIP Prince Philip we won’t see your like again, mores the pity! The poor Queen what an ordeal for her and to have to face her birthday without him so soon

the monotone voice was for the funeral and much better than the archbishop of canterbury reading it.

The perfect service.
The music was some of the very best.
RIP Prince Philip

The Lady in Waiting was not a family member, if she had sat with the Queen one family member couldn’t have attended.

It was wonderful - no awful eulogy, no sermon, just a good meaningful funeral service.

I may be mistaken, but when listening to the Dean of Windsor reading, it seemed to me that he too was weighed down by his grief. Being the "house cleric" his personal association with the Duke must have been stronger than most churchmen, I would have thought.

I felt very proud watching this as the service was faultless. We might have our moans about this country but this shows on occasions like this we can hold our heads up. The whole thing was superbly done. The armed forces display was done with perfect precision and we should be proud. God bless our beautiful Queen who has never let us down during her 69 year reign.