After the sad passing of Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, on April 9th, 2021, many fans of the royal family were curious about the next steps, including of course the funeral arrangements for the Duke. While a time has been set, the planning for the funeral has not been without its own controversies.
The Royal Family announced that Prince Philip had passed away through a statement made to social media.
“It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen has announced the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle. The Royal Family join with people around the world in mourning his loss,” the statement read .
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The Royal Family also shared an emotional quote said by The Queen in 1997.
“He has, quite simply, been my strength and stay all these years, and I, and his whole family, and this and many other countries, owe him a debt grater than he would ever claim, or we shall ever know,” they shared .
Prince William also shared an emotional statement to social media.
“My grandfather’s century of life was defined by service – to his country and Commonwealth, to his wife and Queen, and to our family. I feel lucky to have not just had his example to guide me, but his enduring presence well into my own adult life – both through good times and the hardest days,” he shared .
“I will always be grateful that my wife had so many years to get to know my grandfather and for the kindness he showed her.”
“I will never take for granted the special memories my children will always have of their great-grandpa coming to collect them in his carriage and seeing for themselves his infectious sense of adventure as well as his mischievous sense of humour!” he wrote.
Prince Philip’s funeral will be held on Saturday, April 17th.
However, there was growing concern over which members of the royal family would be wearing what to the funeral, with reports that both Prince Harry and Prince Andrew had requested to wear military uniform to the service.
Usually, the members of the Royal Family would be in military dress uniforms.
It’s traditional for the male members of the Royal Family that have military titles to wear their full military uniforms for occasions like funerals, but there are some complications. Prince Harry has been stripped of his military titles since stepping down from his royal duties. Prince Andrew has also stepped back from public duties due to multiple controversies which has raised the question of whether he would be wearing his military attire as well.
Rather than making individual and potentially controversial decisions about who can wear what to the funeral, it is being reported that The Queen has banned royals from wearing military uniforms all together.
A source claimed that this move was to “even the playing field” so “the day would be about Prince Philip and not who is wearing what.”
The source referred to this as “the most eloquent solution to the problem.”
Some fans of the Royal Family felt this wasn’t a decision The Queen should have to make.
“Definitely a decision that a woman who turns 95 in a week’s time needs to be struggling with just now,” one fan tweeted about the issue sarcastically.
Buckingham Palace has not confirmed or denied this statement yet.
What do you think? Should the family members have been allowed to wear the traditional military attire, or do you think The Queen would be right to remove focus from the clothing and controversy? Let us know in the comments below!
