1. The funeral of Prince Philip has taken place at St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle
2. The Queen was seated alone at the funeral, in line with coronavirus restrictions
3. The Duke of York was closest to the Queen, two seats to her left, while Prince Charles sat opposite
4. The Archbishop of Canterbury personalised a prayer for Prince Philip, paying tribute to his loyalty and sense of duty
5. Prince Philip’s long life has been a blessing, the Dean of Windsor said during the service
6. The Duke of Edinburgh died at Windsor Castle on Friday 9 April, aged 99
7. Members of the royal family walked behind the coffin as it was taken into the chapel
8. The duke’s coffin was brought to the castle in a specially modified Land Rover he helped design
9. The service followed a minute’s silence across the nation
10. Some members of the public have been in Windsor to pay tribute to the duke but the area was largely quiet due to restrictions,
LONDON : The BBC’s Eleanor Oldroyd, who has reported on two royal funerals and three weddings, was the only reporter or broadcaster inside St George’s Chapel today. So what was it like inside?
Afterwards, she said: “Doing something inside the chapel is very special, it’s a very unique position, and it’s a very responsible position as well… it’s a moving time for a lot of people.”
She reported from a small, specially-built, sound-proofed, “hermetically-sealed” box above the high altar. It will come down in the coming days.
“I was being very careful to make sure the door was completely shut, apart from anything else. The dread would be that you draw attention to yourself,” she said
In position from 13:30 BST, she had a TV monitor to see the procession begin to arrive outside the chapel.
“You can feel your heart beating much more rapidly and insistently at that point. Because, however many years of broadcasting you’ve done, you don’t get the chance to do this very often.”
The coffin being lowered into the vault was “a real moment of drama and theatre, but also a very moving moment”, she said, adding that many people had said they had been moved by the buglers on the Last Post, or the national anthem, or the arrival of the Queen on her own into the chapel.
She described one moment that viewers on TV may have missed. The Duke of York, sitting two seats along from the Queen, turned to her “just as if he was checking that she was OK”.
“I don’t know whether that’s what he was doing, but it felt to me a little moment of concern from mother to son.” (BBC London)
