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This Saturday will see the funeral taking place for the Duke of Edinburgh, who died last Friday aged 99. With Covid restrictions limiting the guest list for the event to a mere 30, Her Majesty the Queen had to make difficult decisions regarding which family members would attend.
As well as the Duke s children and grandchildren and their partners, she has also included three of her cousins, Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, and Princess Alexandra, the Hon Lady Ogilvy, and her nephew and niece Earl Snowdon and Lady Sarah Chatto.
The Duke of Edinburgh’s carriage-driving companion – one of his closest confidantes – Countess Mountbatten of Burma will join mourners at Philip’s funeral.
Buckingham Palace said the Queen faced “some very difficult” decisions as she selected the 30 guests permitted under Covid-19 rules, from the original 800-strong congregation, and had tried to ensure all branches of the duke’s family were there.
The 67-year-old countess – Penelope “Penny” Knatchbull, previously known as Lady Romsey and later Lady Brabourne – will join the monarch, the Queen and Philip’s four children and eight grandchildren and their respective spouses at the service in St George’s Chapel on Saturday.
The Archbishop of Canterbury has urged the public to support the Queen during the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral on Saturday.
The Most Rev Justin Welby said people should not judge the monarch on her “external” appearance at the service, adding it would be an “anguished moment” for her.
Speaking to the BBC, he said: “We really have to avoid judging from anything external. She is the Queen. She will behave with the extraordinary dignity and extraordinary courage that she always does.”
The funeral will be attended by just 30 guests due to coronavirus restrictions, and social distancing rules mean the Queen will sit alone.