Britain's Prince Charles pays tribute to 'my dear papa' Philip

WINDSOR (England) • Britain's Prince Charles paid a personal tribute to his "dear papa" Prince Philip, saying the royal family missed him enormously and that the 99-year-old would have been amazed at the touching reaction across the world to his death.

Prince Philip, the husband of Britain's Queen Elizabeth who had been at her side throughout her record-breaking 69-year reign, died at Windsor Castle last Friday.

"As you can imagine, my family and I miss my father enormously," Prince Charles, the couple's eldest son and heir to the throne, said last Saturday outside his Highgrove House home in west England.

"My dear papa was a very special person who I think above all else would have been amazed by the reaction and the touching things that have been said about him... we are, my family, deeply grateful for all that. It will sustain us... at this sad time."

Buckingham Palace announced that the funeral for Prince Philip would be held on Saturday, and that the Queen's grandson, Prince Harry, who had become estranged from the family after moving to the United States with his wife Meghan, would attend. The Duchess of Sussex, who is pregnant with their second child, will not attend on doctor's advice, the palace said.

It said long-established plans for the funeral had to be redrawn and scaled down because of Covid-19 restrictions, but they remained very much in line with Prince Philip's wishes.

Prince Philip, officially known as the Duke of Edinburgh, will be given a ceremonial royal funeral, not a state funeral, as planned before the pandemic. But there will be no public processions, and it will be held entirely on the grounds of Windsor Castle and limited to 30 mourners. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will not be among the guests, to make space for as many family members as possible.

The funeral, which will be broadcast on live television, will be held at the castle's St George's Chapel and will be preceded by a minute's silence across the country.

Prince Charles and other members of the royal family will walk behind a modified Land Rover, which Prince Philip helped design. At the end of the service, Prince Philip will be interred in the Royal Vault.

Tributes have flooded in from across Britain and from world leaders for Prince Philip, who was a pillar of strength for the Queen. At 94, she is the world's oldest and longest-reigning living monarch.

Prince Philip was a decorated sailor who fought in World War II and the armed forces marked his passing with artillery salutes, with units in London, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Belfast and Gibraltar, and some navy warships, firing guns.

The royal family asked the public to heed social distancing rules and avoid visits to its residences, but people still laid cards and bouquets outside Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace.

"I brought yellow roses for friendship because I think that's what he exhibited to everyone who came into his world," said Ms Joanna Reesby, 60, who came to pay her respects at Buckingham Palace.

The Queen has lost her closest confidant. They had been married for 73 years.

On Twitter, the royal family put up a tribute paid by the Queen to her husband on their 50th wedding anniversary 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 greater than he would ever claim, or we shall ever know," she said.

Flags at Buckingham Palace and at government buildings across Britain have been lowered to half-mast and billboard operators replaced advertisements with photos and tributes to the Prince.

REUTERS