Windsor, England, 17 April. - (ANA) - The Queen was seen in public for the first time since the death of her husband, as she lead a small number of mourners as they said goodbye to Prince Philip in a funeral service which was shaped by the duke himself.

 

The Duke of Edinburgh's naval career permeated the service in St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle on Saturday afternoon, with references to the oceans and a hymn associated with seafarers.

 

Philip died on 9 April at the age of 99 in Windsor Castle.

 

The Queen followed the funeral procession through the grounds of the castle, joined in a state Bentley by a lady-in-waiting, the first time her husband has gone ahead of her in more than 60 years.

 

Behind the coffin, their children walked in pairs, first Prince Charles and Princess Anne and then Prince Edward and Prince Andrew.

 

Their grandsons, Prince William and Prince Harry, walked behind, with Peter Phillips in between.

 

Behind them were the Viscount Linley and Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence.

 

Members of the Royal Family, including Prince Charles, Prince William and his wife Kate, and Mike and Zara Tindall, were seen arriving around lunchtime on Saturday.

 

Countess Mountbatten of Burma, Penny Knatchbull travelled to Windsor on Saturday – the only friend of the duke to be able to attend the slimmed down service.

 

Prince Harry's wife Meghan Markle was confirmed to be watching proceedings from the US, where the couple now lives with their son Archie, who turns two next month.

 

Philip's favourite driving carriage was pulled by two of his ponies, Balmoral Nevis and Notlaw Storm, to stand in the Quadrangle of the castle as the procession passed by. He took up carriage driving in the 1970s and continued the sport well into his 90s.

 

The hearse, a custom designed Land Rover, was driven through the Quadrangle as military bands played just before 2.29pm, ready to collect the coffin.

 

Philip's funeral began with a nationwide one minute's silence at 3pm before the coffin is taken into the quire for the service, led by the Dean of Windsor and the Archbishop of Canterbury.

 

There were no readings or eulogies from the Royal Family, in line with other royal funerals.

 

Members of the British Royal Family and the duke's German family, paid tribute to him in the hours before the funeral.

 

His great-niece Princess Xania, whose brother Prince Phillipp who was one of the 30 mourners at the ceremony, said: "To all of us, he was an idol, he was somebody to look up to, we had enormous respect for him and it was always very exciting when he came to visit, and he came often."

 

Mike Tindall, the husband of Zara, one of the duke's granddaughters, called him a "devoted family man who we will forever miss but always love".

 

The ceremony, which included many traditional elements of a Church of England funeral as well as several of his own requests, honoured the duke's "unwavering loyalty" to the Queen and the courage, fortitude and faith".

 

There were several readings but no sermon, in line with his wishes.

 

Poet laureate Simon Armitage wrote a poem to mark the passing of the duke, entitled The Patriarchs – An Elegy, which was released on Saturday and set to images of Philip on the Royal Family's social media.

 

It reads: "On such an occasion / to presume to eulogise one man is to pipe up / for a whole generation – that crew whose survival / was always the stuff of minor miracle, / who came ashore in orange-crate coracles, / fought ingenious wars, finagled triumphs at sea / with flaming decoy boats, and side-stepped torpedoes."  - (ANA) -

 

AB/ANA/17 April 2021 - - -