The plans for royal funerals for the Duke of Edinburgh, also known as Prince Philip, have been in place for many years, but ceremonial elements have had to be altered due to the pandemic.
Current Covid rules limit the number of people who can attend funerals to 30, and original plans for public processions for the duke may not go ahead, a report by CNN read.
The duke had recently spent a month in two London hospitals, undergoing heart surgery and treatment for an infection, before returning in mid-March to Windsor Castle.
Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip, longtime consort to Queen Elizabeth II, dies
The duke’s death will be marked in a somber fashion, as the royal household and UK government have asked the public not to gather or leave flowers at royal residences, as the country remains under strict Covid-19 restrictions.
The College of Arms, which oversees many ceremonial aspects of the royal family’s work, said in a statement Friday that the funeral would be held at St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, in line with the duke’s wishes, and that he would not receive a state funeral or lie in state, which could have seen thousands of members of the public lining up to view his coffin.
Meanwhile, gun salutes took place across the United Kingdom and in Commonwealth countries on Saturday in tribute to Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth II’s husband for more than seven decades, who died on Friday at the age of 99.
Tributes have flooded in from the UK and abroad for Philip — known officially as the Duke of Edinburgh — who was the UK’s longest-ever serving consort, a term used for the husband or wife of a reigning monarch.
Saluting batteries fired 41 rounds, at one round per minute, at Windsor Castle where the duke died, as well as by the Tower of London in the capital and at Edinburgh Castle in Scotland, among other locations.
Australia, a Commonwealth nation, also paid its respects with a gun salute outside Parliament House in the capital, Canberra, on Saturday morning.
Artillery Company fire a gun salute outside The Tower of London on Saturday to mark the death of the Duke of Edinburgh, also known as Prince Philip.
