Gun salutes will be fired across Britain today to mark the
passing of Prince Philip as tributes flooded in for a man who was a pillar of
strength for Queen Elizabeth during her 69-year reign.
Flowers were piled high outside royal residences as sombre
mourners paid their respects to the 99-year-old prince who had spent more than
seven decades at the heart of the British monarchy.
“We’re all weeping with you, Ma’am,” read the front page of
the Sun tabloid, while its rival the Daily Mail ran a 144-page tribute to
Philip, who died on Friday at Windsor Castle.
Buckingham Palace is expected to announce details of
Philip’s funeral later today, although it is likely to be a small, private
affair, stripped of the grandeur of traditional royal occasions by COVID-19
restrictions and the prince’s own dislike of people making a fuss.
Despite a request from the royal family for the public to
obey pandemic social distancing rules and avoid visits to its residences,
people laid cards and bouquets outside Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace
through the night.
“What a life! Thank you for serving our country,” read one
tribute outside Buckingham Palace.
The queen had announced the death of “her beloved husband”
with deep sorrow.
Messages of condolence have poured in from world leaders to
the Duke of Edinburgh, as Philip was officially known, who was credited with
helping to modernise the ancient institution and help his wife deal with
repeated crises during their 73-year marriage.
The BBC cancelled programming across all of its television
and radio channels through Friday and aired a special tribute comprising
interviews with the queen and Philip’s children, including heir-to-the-throne
Prince Charles.
Philip “probably wanted to be remembered as an individual in
his own right,” said Charles, who went to see the queen on Friday afternoon,
hours after his father’s death.
“He didn’t suffer fools gladly, so if you said anything that
was in any way ambiguous, he would say: ‘Make up your mind!’ Perhaps it made
one choose one’s words carefully,” Charles said.
