FAREWELLING A PRINCE

THE WARRING WINDSORS PUT TENSIONS ASIDE TO TEARFULLY HONOUR THEIR MUCH-LOVED PATRIARCH

- Karleigh Smith

As the sun beamed down on a gleaming Windsor Castle last weekend ahead of Prince Philip’s funeral, palace insiders’ hearts were in their mouths.

Behind the glorious early spring day, a moment of reckoning had arrived for the royal family, which was dogged by vicious squabbling over military uniforms in the lead up to the sombre occasion, along with the looming dark cloud of Prince Harry and Prince William’s infamous falling out.

But in the final seconds before the Duke of Edinburgh’s body, onboard a Land Rover he personally customised to carry his casket, began its final journey to a resting place in St George’s Chapel, the House of Mountbatten-Windsor’s war of words came to a ceasefire. “They pulled themselves together very quickly when the big moment arrived, as it was clear there was only one job to do that day – support the Queen, with the whole world watching,” says a source.

Her Majesty, who turned 95 just four days after burying her husband, cut a small but stoic figure as she arrived at the historic church in her Bentley. Sitting alone for the first time in her life due to COVID-19 social-distancing recommendations, and clad in a black mask, Queen Elizabeth was seen subtly dabbing at tears as she watched over Philip’s flag-draped casket – which bore the Mountbatten coat of arms, nods to his Danish and Greek heritage and his ties to Scotland’s Edinburgh.