Sad news that Prince Phillip has died, I'm sure he was gutted not to reach the 100 years old that he was aiming for, missing it by only two months.
Will be interesting now to see how it pans out with Harry re the funeral and as to whether he ( and his darling wife) will be travelling back / invited for that or not now after "the interview".
Just saw the news.
Sad but not unexpected. His death will dominate the news here, probably as much as in the UK.
More interesting than Harry's return is whether or not Meghan accompanies him. The public will give her a right "royal" welcome, I expect.
Hmmm am I right that people from the USA have to undertake 10 days quarantine on arrival in the UK now ? I wonder might that be used as a suitable "excuse" for a non attendance as they wouldn't want to slow down proceedings etc.
Obviously the funeral plans are areadly well in place ( as set our by Prince Phillip himself it seems) and you would assume that the family had "some" idea in the last few days that this was coming so i wonder was the call made to the US to "book your ticket and get yourself back here just in case" or not......time will tell I guess.
I am assuming that Harry and wife have been vaccinated for Covid which should ease their return, if they wish.
Will be interesting to see how much media fuss is imposed upon us.
Back when the Queen Mother died, I was listening to some football commentary on the BBC. They interrupted it to make the announcement, then after that, instead of returning to the football, they played sombre music. All rather OTT, as someone at the age of 102 might be expected to die shortly. Or if subjected to the same levels of healthcare as the average taxpayer, a lot earlier, on average.
Besides, if the listener wanted to mark the occasion with sombre music, he could make a choice & to switch to Radio 3, rather than have it imposed.
Today, a quick check shows the BBC national radio stations appear to be broadcasting the same material, therefore depriving the listener of choice. They should allocate ONE channel for the continuous material and on other channels restrict coverage to short news bulletins.
I dread to think what happens when the main event comes along in the next few years.
gerefan2 (April 9th, 2021)
The funeral plans and media coverage are all of course pre-planned ( Operation Forth Bridge) and the coverage will all have been agreed with both the Palace, the BBC and the Government in order to show the required / suitable level of respect for the member of the Royal Family who has passed. I guess the one "benefit" of old age is that both he and they had plently of time to plan and agree everything well in advance and as per his wishes.
It seems that Phillip specially requested "no fuss" and no official public "lying in State", but he may lie in St James Palace in private etc, so that should speed things up a bit I guess.
I'm guessing Phillips coverage will last a few days perhaps and as he seems to have opted for burial at St Georges Chapel at Windsor Castle rather the Westminster Abbey again that should cut down on some of the phaff. The queen it seems goes into 8 days of official mourning and she wont be seen and where no laws are passed, with a further 30 days of mourning thereafter, when TV and radio stations are supposed to only broadcast "normal programming" ( whatever that is).
I suppose the maximum of 30 persons (or whatever it is nowadays) attending a funeral will be relaxed??
A sad day indeed.
goji (April 9th, 2021)
yeah you just KNOW that might be the conversation to the States......." look Harry you KNOW we'd love to have you and Meghan over, but unfortunately rules are rules and as we've already invited the window cleaner and the guy that does the bins unfortunately that puts us over the 30 so it looks like there's no point in you coming now, we're sure you understand"......
arsenal (April 9th, 2021)
If he'd only managed to stay alive for another two months he'd have received a telegram from the queen. His family must be gutted.
If only the BBC would respect his wishes. Most stations turned over to coverage or playing sombre music.Originally Posted by Nirish guy
Thankfully You Tube offers some choice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgX6JFoV0TM&t=16s
On average, it's sad when people die.
However, if I was told I'm going to live to 99, being active and healthy for most of the time, requiring not much work doing and then dying peacefully at home, I'd be delighted !
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