Prince Philip funeral : Union flags raised over royal palaces as Queen continues to grieve for husband

Prince Philip’s coffin was interred into the Royal Vault during his televised funeral service, in an historic first for the royal family.

The move, which saw the coffin lowered beneath the floor of the quire at St George’s Chapel, Windsor, normally takes place in private, according to royal commentators.

ITV captured footage of the coffin being lowered for millions watching at home to see.

Read our full report, including how the vault will not be Philip’s final resting place:

The Queen could take a “step back” from her duties following her late husband’s funeral, a royal historian has said.

Sarah Richardson, professor of modern British history at the University of Warwick, said that Prince Philip’s passing could be a “turning point” in the future of the monarchy.

Ms Richardson also said the “poignant” service in Windsor on Saturday would have been an “ordeal” for the Queen.

“She has a really strong sense of service and duty and protocol and she’s attended many funerals in the past and she strongly follows the rituals and so on,” she told the PA news agency. “In some ways it would have been comforting for her that the Duke of Edinburgh played such a strong role in planning and organising the service but it must have been an ordeal at the very least.”

Ms Richardson continued: “The other thing I think it represented to me was that this is a turning point in the future of the monarchy. To some extent this is the end of a period, the Queen will carry on and she will carry on doing her duty, she’s already gone back to work to some extent.

“I think she will step back more and more, she’s in her mid-90s, and seeing her there solely on her own, when she’s been accompanied by Philip for 70-odd years, I think it represents a turning point.”

Turning her attention to the conversation seen between the Duke of Sussex and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, the royal expert also said that the conversation at the end of the service would have been a “conscious decision” by the trio.

She added: “The whole family apart from the Queen walked back to the castle from the chapel and the fact that Harry walked with William and Kate I think was perhaps a symbol that there is at least a willingness to talk and perhaps have some rapprochement between the two princes.”

Ms Richardson said the Queen would want a “reuniting” but that William and Harry will need to have “discussions” before moving forward.

A Second World War veteran who fought alongside the Duke of Edinburgh watched the funeral dressed in his Royal Navy uniform in tribute.

Malcolm Clerc, 94, watched the historic event on television at his home in Knutsford, Cheshire, on Saturday.

Mr Clerc joined the Royal Navy aged 15 and served as a petty officer stationed in Guam, a US island territory in the western Pacific.

His daughter, Sally Clerc, 54, said he met Philip on several occasions during the Second World War and at events ever since.

“He was on the ship with Philip Mountbatten, as he would have been called then, they spent some time together. They shared a couple of interesting experiences over that time,” she said earlier.

Ms Clerc said her father had been at Tokyo Bay with Philip when the Japanese surrendered in August 1945.

“He has a lot of respect for him,” she added.

The movement of the coffin

The coffin was draped in Philip’s 12ft personal standard - with blue lions and red hearts on a yellow background representing Denmark and the arms of the City of Edinburgh among the four quarters.

It was adorned by a wreath of white, spring flowers selected by the Queen, with a handwritten private message, and the duke’s admiral of the fleet naval cap and sword.

Land Rover hearse

Gleaming in the sunshine, the polished green Land Rover TD5 130 ferried the duke’s coffin slowly to the west steps of St George’s Chapel.

It was modified to the duke’s own plans in a project that spanned 16 years and which he finally finished in the year he turned 98. It served as a testament to his love of design, engineering and all things practical.

The procession

In step behind the Land Rover were Philip’s children - the Prince of Wales, the Princess Royal, the Duke of York and Earl of Wessex - followed by the duke’s grandsons the Duke of Sussex, the Duke of Cambridge and Peter Phillips, the Princess Royal’s husband vice admiral Tim Laurence, and the Queen’s nephew the Earl of Snowdon.

Philip always walked two steps behind his wife on official engagements, but on Saturday the monarch followed her husband for perhaps the first and only time as she joined the rear of the procession by car for part of the way.

The empty carriage seat

Philip’s cap, gloves and whip were poignantly placed on the empty seat of his favourite driving carriage, which was pulled into place by his two black Fell ponies.

The military

Exactly 730 members of the armed forces, from air, land and sea, took part, standing in proud precision in tribute under clear skies and April sunshine, heads bowed in respect.

The Queen alone

Social media erupted when the Queen was pictured entirely alone in the chapel, ready to say her final farewell to her husband.

Coronavirus restrictions meant the guests, limited to just 30, were forced to sit socially distanced, and those due to sit two seats apart or more from the monarch on her side of the chapel were walking in the procession.

The face masks

All members of the congregation wore face masks. The Queen’s was black with a white edge.

The minute’s silence

People across the UK observed a national minute’s silence for the duke in unison with mourners at his funeral. As members of the royal family fell silent at 3pm, people across the country - including Boris Johnson - did the same.

William and Harry seen speaking for first time in months

Princes William and Harry, whose rift has been well documented, were initially separated by their older cousin Peter Phillips as they walked behind their grandfather’s coffin, with the grieving royals freshly wounded by the Sussexes’ Oprah interview.

But they were spotted talking once the service had finished, alongside William’s wife, Kate.

The televised lowering of the Duke of Edinburgh's coffin into the Royal Vault during his funeral service – an event which usually takes place in private – was described by Joe Little, the managing editor of Majesty magazine, as a moment “unique in British royal history”.

Part of the lowering was filmed by the BBC cameras, which moved away at times to focus on other elements, including the Garter King of Arms, a piper's lament, and the Actions Stations naval battle cry by buglers.

Another tribute to Prince Philip has been posted on Buckingham Palace’s Twitter account, showing the late Duke of Edinburgh holding a rain-soaked hat above his head.

The Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral was “typically Philip and all the better for it”, a royal author has said.

While Joe Little, managing editor of Majesty magazine, said it was “very traditional”, he pointed to the “quirky touches” and “very moving aspects”, such as the duke’s carriage with his gloves, cap and jar of sugar lumps for the horses and the Land Rover hearse.

“It was a very fitting tribute and send off in the most difficult circumstances,” Mr Little told the PA news agency. “It’s what the duke wanted in so many ways but he wouldn’t have envisaged it involving so few people.”

Students at Prince Philip’s former school of Gordonstoun have laid a wreath at sea in his memory, off the Moray coast where he learned to sail.

One student at the exclusive boarding school, Kayesu Allen, who is the beneficiary of a bursary funded by the late Duke of Edinburgh’s foundation, thanked him “for allowing me to have the best education anyone could ever want”.

An author and body language expert has suggested that the royal family has never appeared “quite so emotional” as during today’s funeral.

Judi James said that while the Queen looked “very vulnerable and frail” as she arrived for the service, she was “still very much the head of the Firm and was probably the most animated royal there”.

“She was still in control of the day to a certain extent but there was a moment in the car on the way there when you could see her dabbing her eyes so she was clearly quite tearful.”

Many of tomorrow’s front pages carry images of the Queen sitting on her own during the funeral – with The Independent captioning the picture with the words, “alone in grief”.

The Sunday Express headline reads: “You’re not alone Ma’am.”