Prince Andrew wants to wear full military attire for Prince Philip's funeral

The Queen is being forced to decide which rank of military uniform the Duke of York can wear to his father’s funeral after he demanded to go as an Admiral.

Prince Andrew – who stepped back from public duties over his friendship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein 18 months ago – was made an honorary Vice-Admiral in the Royal Navy on his 55th birthday in 2015.

He was due to be promoted to Admiral on his 60th birthday last year, but offered to defer it until he cleared his name and returned to public duties.

Now the 61-year-old prince has sparked ructions at Buckingham Palace after he told his mother and senior officials that he wished to attend the funeral as an Admiral. The widowed Queen will have to make a decision in the next 24 hours. 

Royal officials are also wrestling with the dilemma of Prince Harry possibly being the only senior male royal not in uniform at the funeral.

Andrew, who joined the Royal Navy in 1979 as a Seaman Officer and finished his active naval career in 2001, is currently a Vice-Admiral after being awarded the rank on his 55th birthday.

An Admiral ceremonial day coat has three rows of lace on the sleeve, but a Vice-Admiral’s two rows. The Admiral’s shoulder rank board has a crossed baton and sword with four stars, but for a Vice-Admiral there are three stars. 

It comes as:

• Preparations are well under way for Philip’s funeral, which will feature servicemen and women from the Royal Navy, Royal Marines, Army and RAF – alongside top military brass – this Saturday at Windsor Castle;
• The Queen returned to royal duties just four days after Philip’s death, hosting an in-person event to mark the retirement of her household’s most senior official, former Lord Chamberlain Earl Peel;
• Thames Valley Police are carrying out specialist searches around Windsor town, with officers examining street furniture including phone boxes, post boxes, drains and bins as part of the operation;
• The Queen and her family will wear face masks and socially distance as they gather to say their final farewell – and the Queen may have to sit alone during the service due to social distancing rules;
• Philip’s funeral could attract one of the largest television audiences of the year, with the record to beat being 25.1million people who watched Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s televised lockdown address on January 4.

While it is not known exactly what uniforms the senior royals will wear on Saturday, at the Queen Mother’s funeral in 2002, Prince Charles wore a Rear Admiral dress uniform, Prince Andrew wore a Royal Naval Commander uniform, and Princess Anne wore honorary Rear Admiral dress. 

All three had, and still have, honorary military titles – along with Prince William – so will all once again be allowed to wear military uniform this weekend. William wore a Blues and Royals uniform to Harry’s wedding in May 2018.

It comes as it was reported last night that William had spoken on the phone to Harry.

The estranged brothers have barely spoken for a year and any attempts to break the ice after Harry and Meghan’s Oprah interview have not been productive. 

Kensington Palace declined to comment but royal sources said the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge wished the focus of the week to be on honouring the Duke of Edinburgh’s memory.  

Harry lost his military titles after quitting royal duties. As a former Captain with the Household Cavalry (Blues and Royals), Harry is only permitted to wear a morning suit with medals, unless officials can find a way round the issue.

Buckingham Palace declined to comment last night, saying only: ‘Funeral arrangements are being finalised and we will announce them accordingly.’ 

A source said any final decision on what uniforms are worn would rest with the Queen. 

Andrew stepped down from public duties in November 2019 ‘for the foreseeable future’ over his friendship with Epstein in the wake of the disastrous Newsnight interview he had hoped would clear his name.

The prince joined the Royal Navy in 1979 as a Seaman Officer and finished his active naval career in 2001. 

The Navy established a policy in 2009 that means the prince is promoted in line with his still-serving peers to mark his continued contribution to the service. 

He became a Rear Admiral on his 50th birthday, a Vice-Admiral on his 55th, and had been due to become an Admiral on his 60th last year before forgoing the promotion. 

Andrew’s stance is likely to add to what must be an extremely distressing and stressful week for the Queen and the rest of the Royal Family.

‘People have opinions and there are ongoing discussions about the right course of action,’ a source said.

The rank of Admiral is the highest rank to which a serving officer in the Royal Navy can be promoted, although members of the Royal Family can be made Admiral of the Fleet.

Significantly, while many of Andrew’s charitable patronages have deserted him, he has not been stripped of his military positions and titles yet.

He has been accused by one of Epstein’s victims, Virginia Guiffre, of having sex with her twice when she was just 17. Andrew has strongly denied all accusations. 

He has kept a generally low profile since being forced out of public life, but in recent days talked of the ‘huge void’ his father’s passing had left in the Queen’s life.

There have been reports he hopes to rehabilitate his image and make a return to public life.

As for William and Harry, broadcaster Andrew Neil told ITV’s This Morning today: ‘They’ve spoken on the phone, of course they can’t meet face to face because Harry is in quarantine having come in from Los Angeles.

‘I don’t know whether it will lead to anything or not. I mean, frankly I think it’s a sideshow. What Harry and William do is up to them – if they want to speak, fine, if they don’t that’s fine too – I don’t really care, one way or the other.

‘What I don’t want to happen is it to overshadow the Duke’s funeral and to overshadow the Queen. All thoughts this week should not be with Harry or William, all thoughts should be with the Queen. That’s the beginning and the end of it. She’s the one that matters, not these two.’

Meanwhile the Queen has returned to royal duties just four days after the death of her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh.

On Tuesday, the 94-year-old monarch hosted her first in-person event since Philip’s passing on Friday to mark the retirement of her household’s most senior official, former Lord Chamberlain Earl Peel.

Her return to work comes as preparations are under way for Philip’s funeral, which will feature servicemen and women from the Royal Navy, Royal Marines, Army and RAF – alongside top military brass – this Saturday at Windsor Castle.

It was announced at the weekend the monarchy and their households would observe two weeks of royal mourning, with members of the family ‘continuing to undertake engagements appropriate to the circumstances,’ a royal official said.

The Earl Peel had overseen arrangements for the duke’s funeral – known as Operation Forth Bridge – before handing responsibility to his successor, former MI5 spy chief Baron Parker, just over a week before Philip died peacefully at Windsor Castle.

In overall charge is Andrew Parker, Baron Parker of Minsmere, who took up his new role on April 1, following the Earl Peel’s retirement after more than 14 years in the post.

The Lord Chamberlain oversees all senior appointments in the household, is the channel of communication between the sovereign and the House of Lords and ensures co-ordination between Buckingham Palace and Clarence House.

During a ceremony held at Windsor Castle, the Queen accepted her former royal aide’s wand and insignia of office.

The official engagement was recorded in the Court Circular – a daily list of the events attended by the Queen and her family.

It said: ‘The Earl Peel had an audience of The Queen today, delivered up his Wand and Insignia of Office as Lord Chamberlain and the Badge of Chancellor of the Royal Victorian Order and took leave upon relinquishing his appointment as Lord Chamberlain, when Her Majesty invested him with the Royal Victorian Chain.’

The Queen recently conferred a prestigious honour on the Earl Peel, making him a Permanent Lord in Waiting.

Meanwhile, as part of security preparations, Thames Valley Police are carrying out specialist searches around Windsor town, with officers examining street furniture including phone boxes, post boxes, drains and bins as part of the operation.

The force said it has put a range of visible and covert security measures in place for Saturday, when the duke is to be honoured with a ceremonial royal funeral at St George’s Chapel.

It will be a royal funeral like no other, with the Queen and her family wearing face masks and socially distancing as they gather to say their final farewell.

The Queen may have to sit alone during the service due to social distancing rules, the Telegraph has reported. She is staying at Windsor with a reduced number of around 22 staff, in what has been dubbed HMS Bubble.

The duke’s long-standing close aide, his private secretary Brigadier Archie Miller Bakewell, will be one of the few, and possibly only, non-royals invited to attend the historic occasion inside St George’s Chapel.

As a member of HMS Bubble, he may be the only person eligible to sit with the Queen. It is thought Philip’s funeral could attract one of the largest television audiences of the year.

The biggest TV audience so far saw 25.1 million people watch Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s televised address on January 4 announcing a new national lockdown, while 13.9 million viewers tuned in for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s interview with US broadcaster Oprah Winfrey last month.

Broadcasters have yet to confirm their plans for Philip’s funeral, but the BBC and ITV are likely to devote several hours to the event, including the ceremony at 3pm.

Harry and William ‘will be reunited for the first time on the morning of Philip’s funeral’: Kate is ‘set to act as peacemaker’ after the brothers ‘spoke on the phone while the Duke of Sussex isolates at Frogmore Cottage’

• The brothers are believed to have already spoken on the phone since Harry landed at Heathrow last weekend
• Harry believed to be self-isolating at Frogmore Cottage, Windsor, so he can be close to the Queen and funeral
• The Queen returned to work as she hosted retirement ceremony for former Lord Chamberlain Earl Peel
• It comes after death of husband of 73-years Prince Philip at the age of 99 on Friday, at home at Windsor Castle
• As tributes flooded in from across the country, the family announced a two-week period of royal mourning 
• But in a move that typifies the Queen’s deep sense of duty, the monarch, 94, returned to work on Tuesday 

By Martin Robinson, Chief Reporter For MailOnline

Prince William and Prince Harry will not meet in person until their grandfather Prince Philip’s funeral on Saturday with Kate Middleton helping them put on a ‘unified’ front for the Queen, it was revealed today.

The brothers are believed to have already spoken on the phone since Harry landed at Heathrow ahead of seeing each other face-to-face for the first time in a year at Windsor Castle this weekend.

The Duchess of Cambridge is said to be willing to act as ‘peacemaker’ between the brothers, who have vowed to set aside their rift and try to reset their strained relationship to honour the memory of the Duke of Edinburgh.

Harry described Kate as the ‘big sister I never had’ when she became engaged to William 11 years ago – but the siblings’ relationship became fractured following his decision to emigrate to the US and be interviewed by Oprah Winfrey with his wife Meghan Markle. 

The Sussexes accused the Royal Family of racism, with Harry claiming William is ‘trapped’ and saying Prince Charles cut him off financially. Kate was also accused by Meghan of making her cry in a row over bridesmaids dresses in the bombshell TV interview last month, but Kate is said to be pushing for the brothers to make up.

Saturday’s funeral will certainly remind the brothers of their shared grief at another royal funeral more than two decades ago – when, as young boys, both walked behind their mother Princess Diana’s coffin in 1997. 

Harry is now in quarantine, but can attend the funeral in line with government rules that make exceptions for such occasions. Meghan, who is pregnant with their second child, was advised by her doctor not to make the long trip. 

A royal source told the Daily Telegraph: ‘They know it is not about them on Saturday – it is about honouring their grandfather’s memory and supporting their grandmother. I would be extremely surprised if that wasn’t front and centre of both their minds. They will be keen to spend time together as a family, in the same time zone for once.’ Another insider said: ‘The entire focus is on the Queen. No exceptions. A family unified.’ 

The brothers will meet face-to-face for the first time in more than a year on Saturday. The brothers also plan to unveil a sculpture in memory of Diana in the gardens at Kensington Palace, together this summer.  

In two statements with very different tones released 30 minutes apart on Monday, Prince William praised his grandfather’s lifetime of service to ‘Queen, country and Commonwealth’ before Harry declared: ‘He was my grandpa: master of the barbecue, legend of banter, and cheeky right ’til the end’.

William’s words focused on duty, continuing Philip’s work and the need to support the Queen, with some royal watchers pondering if this was, in part, a criticism of his brother who quit as a frontline royal and emigrated to the United States with his wife.

Harry is understood to have chosen to self-isolate at Frogmore Cottage at Windsor Castle where the Queen is based, rather than at Kensington Palace where his brother lives with his wife and three children.

It came as the Queen stoically returned to royal duties yesterday, four days after the death of her husband the Duke of Edinburgh, and within the official period of eight days of mourning. 

The monarch, 94, hosted a retirement ceremony for the former Lord Chamberlain Earl Peel on Tuesday. 

It comes after her husband of 73-years, Prince Philip, passed away aged 99 on Friday at Windsor Castle.

As touching tributes flooded in from across the nation for the duke, including flowers left at residences such as Windsor and Buckingham Palace, the family announced a two-week period of royal mourning.

But, in a move that typifies the Queen’s deep sense of duty, she returned early to bid farewell to Earl Peel – a key royal aide who is retiring after 14 years of service.

Earl Peel was the Lord Chamberlain, which is the most senior officer role in the royal household. He had been overseeing arrangements for the duke’s funeral – known as Operation Forth Bridge. 

Prince Andrew, The Duke of York, recently said his mother is bearing up stoically and the family have been rallying round to support her.

And Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, has pledged to uphold his grandfather’s wishes and continue to support the Queen and ‘get on with the job’.

It was announced at the weekend the monarchy and their households would observe two weeks of royal mourning, with members of the family ‘continuing to undertake engagements appropriate to the circumstances,’ a royal official said.

The Princess Royal, Prince Anne, took part in her first official event since the death of her father.

She joined, via video-link, the Royal College of Emergency Medicine’s Spring Conference in her role as the organisation’s patron.

The Earl Peel, who has now left his role as the royal family’s top aide, had overseen arrangements for the duke’s funeral before handing responsibility to his successor, former MI5 spy chief Baron Parker, just over a week before Philip died peacefully at Windsor Castle.

The Lord Chamberlain’s Office, led by the Queen’s Comptroller Lieutenant Colonel Michael Vernon, is tasked with the practical side of the day.

But in overall charge is Andrew Parker, Baron Parker of Minsmere, who took up his new role on April 1, following the Earl Peel’s retirement after more than 14 years in the post.

The Lord Chamberlain oversees all senior appointments in the household and is the channel of communication between the sovereign and the House of Lords.

The position also ensures co-ordination between Buckingham Palace and Clarence House.

During a ceremony held at Windsor Castle, the Queen accepted her former royal aide’s wand and insignia of office.

The official engagement was recorded in the Court Circular – a daily list of the events attended by the Queen and her family.

It said: ‘The Earl Peel had an audience of The Queen today, delivered up his Wand and Insignia of Office as Lord Chamberlain and the Badge of Chancellor of the Royal Victorian Order and took leave upon relinquishing his appointment as Lord Chamberlain, when Her Majesty invested him with the Royal Victorian Chain.’ 

The Queen recently conferred a prestigious honour on the Earl Peel, making him a Permanent Lord in Waiting.

The Armed Forces are stepping up preparations for the duke’s funeral which will feature servicemen and women from the Royal Navy, Royal Marines, Army and RAF – alongside top military brass.

Soldiers from the Corps of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) are reportedly working to prepare the special Land Rover – that the duke helped design – which will carry his coffin on Saturday.

Lieutenant General Paul Jaques, who served with REME, said about the duke, his unit’s former colonel-in-chief: ‘He was engaged with us and used to visit us probably once or twice every single year since 1969.

‘And he had an enormous passion for all things engineering. In his own words ‘If it wasn’t invented by God, it was invented by an engineer’.

It comes amid reports that the Queen may have to sit apart from family members at her husband’s funeral – due to strict Covid rules.

Current guidelines mean anyone attending a funeral must stay at least two metres apart from those outside their household, except when in a support bubble.

However the Queen is not eligible to be in a support bubble, because she technically does not live on her own – and is supported by a team of royal aides dubbed ‘HMS Bubble’.

As other members of the Royal Family are living in other royal residences, it means the Queen will likely have to sit at least two metres away from relatives at the funeral, according to the Telegraph. 

Royal sources confirmed to the paper that the Queen would be alone at the funeral service, unless a member of the Windsor bubble joins her. 

Meanwhile, the Queen will likely have to wear a mask at the funeral, while royals could be banned from singing hymns due to Covid restrictions, reports the Sun. 

Updated national guidance, issued by the Government, said communal singing should not go ahead at funerals to prevent the spread of Covid.

Choirs are still allowed, but members must be kept to as few as possible and should remain socially distanced. 

A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said tonight: ‘We have made it very clear that the service will be Covid compliant.’ 

More details of the funeral, set to take place at George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle on Saturday, are to be announced on Thursday. 

Meanwhile, reports in the Daily Express today suggest that the Queen will spend more time at Windsor following the death of Prince Philip.

The Queen has reportedly told royal sources that she now feels ‘most comfortable’ living within the walls of the Berkshire fortress – known to be her favourite royal residence. 

Even prior to Prince Philip’s death the Queen had been spending more and more time at Windsor – and has been sheltering there for much of the pandemic.

It is believed Buckingham Palace will be used in more of an office role going forward, the Express adds.

Ahead of Saturday’s funeral, Prince Harry flew into London’s Heathrow Airport without his heavily-pregnant wife Meghan Markle ahead of Prince Philip’s funeral on his first visit to Britain since quitting royal duties and the couple’s bombshell Oprah interview. 

The Duke of Sussex was reportedly seen leaving his £11million California mansion on Saturday night in a black Cadillac Escalade to board an early-hours flight from LA, and disembarking a BA plane in chinos, a jacket and black face mask at the west London airport around 10 hours later at 1.15pm GMT on Sunday. 

Harry was met by security off the plane and put into a black Range Rover, before he was reportedly driven to Kensington Palace.

The Sun has claimed he is quarantining at the Christopher Wren-designed Nottingham Cottage, where Harry proposed to Meghan Markle in 2017. It is just a few yards from the apartment where his brother William lives with his family.

The Sunday Times has claimed that he will stay at Frogmore Cottage in the grounds of Windsor Castle, so he can be close to his grandmother.

After Megxit, Frogmore was handed to Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank, who had their first child in February, but they are understood to split their time between the cottage and Kensington Palace.

Harry can leave quarantine after five days rather than 10 if he provides a negative test under the Government’s Test to Release scheme.

However, he will be allowed to attend Philip’s funeral regardless, as official guidelines state those coming in from abroad can leave isolation ‘on compassionate grounds’.

It comes as family members paid touching tributes to the duke. 

The Royal Family’s Twitter page shared a picture with the Queen and Prince Philip along with a moving quote from the monarch about her husband from a speech she made celebrating their golden wedding anniversary in 1997.

In the speech, looking back at their then 50 year marriage, she said: ‘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.’

Grandchildren, Prince Harry and Prince William also paid tribute in statements released thirty minutes apart. 

Prince William praised his grandfather’s lifetime of service to ‘Queen, country and Commonwealth’ before Harry declared: ‘He was my grandpa: master of the barbecue, legend of banter, and cheeky right ’til the end’. 

If you were William, could you forgive Harry? In the circumstances of their grandfather’s funeral, it’s the noble thing to do… but AMANDA PLATELL fears the brothers’ rift is beyond repair

If we could turn back time – by even a year – the sight of Princes William and Harry walking side by side behind their beloved Grandpa’s coffin at his funeral on Saturday would have been both heart-rending and heart-warming.

A nation would remember the day nearly a quarter of a century ago that these once inseparable boys followed in the wake of their mother Diana’s coffin – united forever, we thought, in grief and loss and love. An unbreakable bond.

Yet break that bond has. It has been shattered by Harry’s swift and unexpected departure from his royal duties to live in the US, and by the incendiary interview he and his wife gave to Oprah Winfrey in California as ‘Grandpa’ lay gravely ill in hospital.

There is hope now of reconciliation between William and Harry, with many believing that the duke’s death will grant them the common ground to rebuild their once rock-solid relationship; that this funeral will bring Diana’s once inseparable sons together again, just as she would have wished.

That as the elder, William should be the bigger man, extend the olive branch and excuse Harry and Meghan for all the pain they have caused the Royal Family by publicly branding at least one of them as racist in the interview with Oprah.

There are those who feel William should even find it in himself to forgive Harry, to move on, to forget all the wild, unfounded accusations levelled at him, his wife and the rest of the Royal Family.

As a Christian who believes in the sanctity of forgiveness as the cornerstone of our faith, I would dearly love that to happen. 

Yet if I were William – who, let’s not forget will one day become the Supreme Governor of the Church of England – I would have to ask myself: Can I really find it in myself to forgive Harry’s betrayal? Are some wounds just too deep?

Harry knew exactly what he was doing when he and Meghan secretly plotted to leave the UK just months after their wedding, demanding a new deal from the Queen to reduce their royal duties yet keep the privileges and titles and personal protection. 

All while pursuing a multi-millionaire celebrity lifestyle in California and living in the pocket of Netflix.

Yes, the same company which produced the hit TV series The Crown – a fantastic and often cruel representation of the royals, portraying the Queen as cold and out-of-touch and Prince Philip as a blundering buffoon.

Harry knew he would be badly letting down his brother William – also father to a young family – increasing not just his burden of duty but also the sheer amount of public engagements he would have to carry out in Harry’s absence.

He knew he was breaking that bond with his brother, yet he did it anyway. For, as Harry said in that interview, it was his new family – not the Royal Family – that now came first.

Yet, like his grandfather and grandmother, William never complained, never explained. 

Only once has he publicly defended his family from Meghan’s accusations, in an uncharacteristic and clearly furious response to a journalist who asked if her claims were true.

Through gritted teeth he replied: The Royal Family is ‘very much not racist’.

Harry must have known that what his wife was to tell the world in that interview would make the Royal Family look cold, remote and unwelcoming. 

As we saw, Harry was utterly complicit in his walk-on role – especially when it came to the as yet unspecified claims of racism.

Perhaps even more unforgivable is that Harry allowed his wife to traduce his sister-in-law, the Duchess of Cambridge, on more than one occasion.

Those of us who have come to love and admire our future queen were furious. Imagine how betrayed her husband must have felt! Harry had committed an unpardonable sin allowing Kate to be attacked. 

For, make no mistake, there is seldom any forgiveness between brothers when the sisters-in-law fall out.

Naturally, both men are utterly protective of their wives.

One can only imagine how upset Kate would have been when Meghan claimed in front of around 50million viewers worldwide that she had not made her cry at a fitting for her bridesmaid dress in 2018 – that it was Kate who had made her cry.

Meghan also claimed that she was suicidal when she was five months pregnant with son Archie and that the royals refused to make Archie a prince.

She claimed to have repeatedly asked the palace for advice, only to be ignored.

The Queen was characteriscally chilly in her response, stating famously that ‘some recollections may vary’. 

But the House of Windsor has been left reeling and there is no doubt that the interview created deep anger and anxiety at a time when the family were preparing to say their final goodbyes to Prince Philip.

What sorrow Harry and Meghan’s words must have brought the Queen as her lifelong partner, her rock, was seriously ill in hospital.

And what brother could forgive another who justified his actions by saying that if Grandpa died they would postpone the interview? Not cancel. Simply delay! As it happened, the Duke did return home from hospital for a few weeks to die beside his beloved Lilibet.

Had Diana lived, perhaps she would have knocked some sense into Harry’s head, befriended Meghan, smoothed the path of conciliation between her two once inseparable sons.

Would she have seen the early warning signs, as women often do, and brokered peace before this modern day War of the Waleses had even began?

I feel great sadness for William and Kate now as they plan for Prince Philip’s funeral. To them he was a man they revered and loved, and they have pledged their life to serve in his honourable footsteps.

On top of all that, they will have to greet and smile at the brother who, with his wife, turned his back on that path and caused them so much pain.

Funerals are supposed to bring families together but, as many of us know, they can often rip them apart. Such sadness exacerbates pains inflicted, imagined or real.

Emotions are heightened; we cling to those we know we can trust. And for William and Kate, they are most unlikely to trust the man who allowed the contents of one of their recent conversations to be shared with America via TV anchor Gayle King.

Yet, still, I feel sorry for Harry, walking alone on that final march, knowing what damage he has inflicted – not just on his brother, but on the Queen and grandfather he adored and grieves for.

The boys may walk side by side on Saturday – just as they did with the Duke of Edinburgh, their father and uncle, all those years ago at their mother’s funeral. But I fear now that their hearts might as well be a million miles apart.

Meghan’s friends revealed this week that she and her husband were ‘ready to forgive’ the Royal Family for their treatment of her.

Sadly, I fear it will be many, many years – if ever – before William or Kate can forgive them.