• News
  • Sport
  • TV
  • Radio
  • Education
  • TV Licences
  • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
  • SOUTH AFRICA
  • POLITICS
  • BUSINESS
  • SPORT
  • AFRICA
  • WORLD
  • SCI-TECH
  • LIFESTYLE
  • FEATURES
  • OPINION
Home World

We’ve lost the ‘grandfather of the nation’, UK’s Prince Andrew says

11 April 2021, 5:25 PM  |
Reuters Reuters |  @SABCNews
Prince Andrew described Philip as a “remarkable man” after he left a private service in Windsor, where his father died on Friday at the age of 99.

Prince Andrew described Philip as a “remarkable man” after he left a private service in Windsor, where his father died on Friday at the age of 99.

Image: Reuters

Prince Andrew described Philip as a “remarkable man” after he left a private service in Windsor, where his father died on Friday at the age of 99.

The death of Britain’s Prince Philip has deprived the nation of its grandfather and left a huge void for his wife of 73 years, Queen Elizabeth, the couple’s second son said on Sunday.

Prince Andrew described Philip as a “remarkable man” after he left a private service in Windsor, where his father died on Friday at the age of 99.

“It’s a great loss,” he said. “I think the way I would put it is we’ve lost almost the grandfather of the nation.”

He said the family was rallying around his 94-year-old mother, adding she was stoical in the face of a loss that she had described as “having left a huge void in her life”.

Andrew has rarely been seen in public since he stepped down from official duties in 2019 over the controversy surrounding his association with the disgraced late US financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Prayers were said for Philip at the private service in All Saints Chapel in Windsor Great Park west of London, echoing church services across the country.

At a service at Canterbury Cathedral, the Archbishop of Canterbury prayed for those who found that the death of the Duke of Edinburgh, as Philip was officially known, had left a “very great gap” in their lives.

As part of eight days of national mourning, people gathered outside Windsor Castle and other royal palaces to leave flowers, while religious and political leaders expressed support for the queen, the world’s oldest and longest-reigning monarch.

A note attached to a Royal Navy peak cap left amongst flowers at Windsor, a tribute to Philip’s service in the navy, read: “God bless you Sir, you were an example to us all.”

STIRRING MUSIC

At Canterbury Cathedral, Edward Elgar’s stirring Nimrod was played, the piece of music that accompanies many British funerals and memorial services and is played annually at the Cenotaph in London to mark the National Service of Remembrance.

A Greek prince, Philip married Elizabeth in 1947, five years before she ascended to the throne. He helped the monarchy modernise in the post-World War Two period and supported the queen through numerous crises over the years.

His funeral will be held next Saturday, with long-established plans redrawn and scaled down because of COVID-19 restrictions.

The prince will be given a ceremonial royal funeral rather than a state funeral. There will be no public processions, and it will be held entirely within the grounds of Windsor Castle and limited to 30 mourners.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson will not attend.

A ‘LITTLE SPACE’ FOR THE QUEEN

John Major, who was British prime minister from 1990 to 1997, said he hoped the queen would be given the time she needs to grieve after she lost her husband of 73 years.

He said being the head of state was a “very lonely position in many ways”, and the queen would feel the loss of a man she had relied on for decades.

“I know she is the monarch, I know she has responsibilities, but she has earned the right to have a period of privacy in which to grieve with her family,” he told the BBC.

Union flags will fly at half-mast at royal residences and government buildings until the day after the funeral. The royal family is observing two weeks of mourning.

HARRY AND MEGHAN

Major, who was guardian to Princes William and Harry after their mother Diana died, said he also hoped the funeral would help reunite the family after it was rocked last month by an interview given by Harry and his wife Meghan to Oprah Winfrey.

During the interview, Meghan said her pleas for help while she felt suicidal were ignored and that an unnamed member of the family had asked how dark their unborn child’s skin might be.

Harry will return from the United States, where the couple now lives, to attend the funeral while Meghan, who is pregnant with their second child, will not, on her doctor’s advice.

“The friction that we are told has arisen is a friction better ended as speedily as possible,” Major said.

Share article
Tags: BritainQueen ElizabethPrince Philip
Previous Post

Tokyo Olympic organisers to secure 300 hotel rooms for athletes with COVID-19-Kyodo

Next Post

KZN Premier engages with farmers, farm dwellers in Newcastle amid tensions

Related Posts

Javeline anti-tank missiles are displayed on the assembly line as U.S. President Joe Biden tours a Lockheed Martin weapons factory in Troy, Alabama, US May 3, 2022.

US readies $2 billion-plus Ukraine aid package

1 February 2023, 10:42 AM

Calls for police reform ring out across United States in aftermath of Tyre Nichols’ death

31 January 2023, 10:08 PM
People and rescue workers gather amid the damages, after a suicide blast in a mosque in Peshawar, Pakistan January 30, 2023.

Families search for loved ones after Pakistan mosque blast kills 100

31 January 2023, 3:40 PM
People and rescue workers gather amid the damages, after a suicide blast in a mosque in Peshawar, Pakistan January 30, 2023.

Pakistan mosque bombing death toll rises to 87

31 January 2023, 9:46 AM
US Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon from the 140th Wing of the Colorado Air National Guard during NATO exercise Saber Strike flies over Amari military air base, Estonia June 12, 2018.

Western allies differ over jets for Ukraine as Russia claims gains

31 January 2023, 6:59 AM
A member of the bomb disposal unit surveys the site after a motorcycle bomb blast near a police station in Quetta, Pakistan July 30, 2019.

Suicide bombing at mosque in Pakistan kills 32, targeted police

30 January 2023, 3:16 PM
Next Post
The area has been in the spotlight following the escalating tensions between the farmers and farm dwellers.

KZN Premier engages with farmers, farm dwellers in Newcastle amid tensions

Most Viewed

  • 24hrs
  • Week
  • Month
  • Registration at Unisa closes on Friday, but management says no need to panic
  • Gas leak shut, isolated in Pretoria North
  • King of Bacardi music ‘Vusi Ma R5’ killed in Soshanguve
  • Committee wants to halt planned demolition of North West hospital
  • Bapedi kingdom commemorates Kgosi Mampuru II, still hoping to find his remains
  • Parts of the Northern Cape to be exempted from rolling blackouts
  • VIDEO | St Benedict College’s Matric learner gets 11 distinctions
  • Limpopo matriculant from child-headed household attains diploma pass
  • Female circumcision practice thriving in Eastern Cape
  • Premier denies claims that KZN government spent millions on Mampintsha’s funeral
  • At least 10 people killed in Bhityi area, Eastern Cape
  • Manhunt for 20 suspects in KwaMashu shooting
  • UPDATE: Four dead in KwaMashu Hostel shooting
  • LIVE: EFF leader Julius Malema and bodyguard back in court
  • VIDEO: Jacob Zuma vs State Advocate Billy Downer, Karen Maughan

LATEST

Zimbabwean flag
  • Africa

Helping Zimbabwean permit holders not a political ploy: Ambassador


Electricity pylons  in South Africa.
  • Business

Eskom anticipates lower stages of load shedding by the weekend


File: An overview of the Niger delta where signs of oil spills can be seen in the water in Port Harcourt, Nigeria
  • Africa

Nigerian communities file damages claim against Shell


Crime scene image
  • South Africa

Police investigators still at scene of KwaMashu fatal shooting


Eskom logo against an electric bulb
  • Business

Key priority areas identified to fix energy crisis: Eskom board


ANC Deputy President Paul Mashatile at a party event
  • Politics

Mashatile set to become a MP


Weather

  • About the SABC
  • Contact Us
  • Jobs
  • Advertise
  • Disclaimer
  • Site Map

SABC © 2023

No Result
View All Result
  • SOUTH AFRICA
  • POLITICS
  • BUSINESS
  • SPORT
  • AFRICA
  • WORLD
  • SCI-TECH
  • LIFESTYLE
  • FEATURES
  • OPINION

© 2022

Previous Tokyo Olympic organisers to secure 300 hotel rooms for athletes with COVID-19-Kyodo
Next KZN Premier engages with farmers, farm dwellers in Newcastle amid tensions