The Queen is set to join 1,800 mourners at service for beloved husband Prince Philip

Queen’s final farewell to her strength and stay: Her Majesty is adamant she will join 1,800 mourners at today’s service for beloved husband Prince Philip in her first major public engagement for six months

  • Royal aides revealed the 95-year-old Queen has been ‘actively involved’ in plans
  • It includes some elements the duke had planned for his funeral in April last year
  • It will give thanks for the duke’s dedication to family, nation and Commonwealth 
  • Around 1,800 are due at today’s service, including British and European royalty
  • The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are not returning from the US for the service 
  • A final decision on her attendance will not be made until first thing this morning 

The Queen was last night still intending to attend today’s service of thanksgiving for the life of the Duke of Edinburgh.

She was said to be determined to travel to London to mark the long and productive life of her husband Philip in what would be her first major public engagement away from Windsor Castle in nearly six months.

Royal aides revealed the 95-year-old monarch has been ‘actively involved’ in plans for the service at Westminster Abbey ‘with many elements reflecting Her Majesty’s wishes’ as the order of service was unveiled last night. 

It includes several elements the duke had planned for his funeral in April last year but which were forbidden by Covid restrictions at the time.

The Queen was last night still intending to attend today’s service of thanksgiving for the life of the Duke of Edinburgh (Pictured: The Queen sits alone at Philip’s pared-down funeral last April)

Among them is the involvement of Duke of Edinburgh (DofE) gold award winners and Sea Cadets, his expressed wish for the congregation to sing the rousing hymn Guide Me, O Thou Great Redeemer, and for clergy from the royal estates of Windsor, Sandringham and Balmoral to play a special part.

His funeral at St George’s Chapel in Windsor was limited to just 30 mourners in the midst of the pandemic and mass singing was banned, with the Queen sitting alone in a mask.

Around 1,800 guests are due at today’s service, including British and European royalty, representatives of the many charities of which the duke was patron or president, Boris and Carrie Johnson, and Sir David Attenborough.

But the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are not returning from the US for the service.

She was said to be determined to travel to London to mark the long and productive life of her husband Philip in what would be her first major public engagement away from Windsor Castle in nearly six months

She was said to be determined to travel to London to mark the long and productive life of her husband Philip in what would be her first major public engagement away from Windsor Castle in nearly six months

While the Queen’s arrival is mentioned in the order of service, it is understood a final decision on her attendance will not be made until first thing this morning.

She has recently been forced to pull out of a string of engagements because of ill health and old age. She was unable to attend the Commonwealth Day service this month because of concerns about mobility and comfort. 

Aides are thought to have taken steps to ensure that the service, to be televised live on BBC 1, is less taxing for the Queen.

Instead of arriving at the usual west entrance to the Abbey, which would involve steps and a long walk down the nave in front of the cameras, the Queen could be driven around the side of the building and enter away from public view via the ‘Poet’s Entrance’. She would then have a far shorter walk to her seat.

The service will gave thanks for the duke¿s dedication to family, nation and Commonwealth and recognise his legacy in creating opportunities for young people, promoting conservation and supporting the Armed Forces

The service will gave thanks for the duke’s dedication to family, nation and Commonwealth and recognise his legacy in creating opportunities for young people, promoting conservation and supporting the Armed Forces

The service will gave thanks for the duke’s dedication to family, nation and Commonwealth and recognise his legacy in creating opportunities for young people, promoting conservation and supporting the Armed Forces.

One of the elements planned for the funeral which has now been included in the service will see nine gold award holders from the DofE Award, plus representatives from UK Cadet Force Associations, line entry routes into the Abbey.

Philip, who died in April last year aged 99, launched the DofE Award in 1956 and was colonel-in-chief of the Army Cadet Force, a role he first took up in 1953.

A tenth DofE gold award holder, Doyin Sonibare, 28, from London, will give a tribute.

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