In an intimate ceremony, Elizabeth II said her final farewells to Prince Felipe

Funerals for British royalty are often large, planned for years, and attended by monarchs and rulers from around the world.

But restrictions imposed by the coronavirus forced changes to the burial plans for Felipe, who died on April 9, two months before his 100th birthday. The ceremony was limited to 30 intimate guests with masks and safety distances.

The event began with a minute’s silence before the church service at St. George, the 15th-century Gothic chapel located in nearly millennial Windsor Castle, about 50 km west of London.

Dressed in their military medals over civilian clothes, the royal couple’s four children and several grandchildren accompanied on foot the green Land Rover, specially designed by Felipe to carry his coffin, in a brief funeral procession through the gardens of the castle.

The Queen followed them in an official Bentley with a maid of honor.

However, the monarch, who turns 95 next Wednesday, sat alone in the chapel to say goodbye to her husband, the man she married while still a princess in 1947 and whose death leaves her alone in the twilight of her reign.

A choir of four separate singers in the huge nave sang themes chosen by the Duke of Edinburgh himself, including two he commissioned from British composers Benjamin Britten in 1961 and William Lovelady in 1996.

And Windsor Dean David Conner recalled Philip’s “life of service”.

After the funeral, chaired by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, spiritual leader of the Anglicans, the Duke was deposited in private in the royal crypt of St George’s Chapel to be buried there.

The Prince Consort was a constant presence alongside Elizabeth II since, at just 25, she was crowned in 1952, when the UK was rebuilding itself after World War II and her empire began to crumble.

The monarch posted a moving personal photo of the two relaxed and smiling in 2003 in Cairngorms National Park in Scotland.

And footage of key moments from the wedding has been posted on the royal family’s social media.

Many royal experts assure that it was Felipe who managed with an iron fist a family marked by crises, helping the queen to overcome the scandals.

On Saturday, all eyes were on Princes Enrique and Guillermo, whose relations are strained.

It was the 36-year-old’s first public appearance with royalty since he and his wife Meghan, who did not travel to the UK because she was pregnant, stepped down from royal duties and moved on. moved to California.

Enrique did not walk behind the coffin with his 38-year-old brother. Among them was his cousin Peter Phillips, fueling speculation about a lingering dispute.

However, the two left for a chat at the end of the ceremony, accompanied by Guillermo’s wife, Catalina, in a possible sign of reconciliation.

Due to the coronavirus, the British have been urged not to travel to Windsor. Some still decided to make the trip with most of the country watching the event on TV, as Prime Minister Boris Johnson did from his residence on Checkers’ grounds.

Covered with his sword, his naval cap and his personal standard, the duke’s coffin had been transferred in the morning by carriers of the first battalion of grenadiers – of which Felipe was colonel for 42 years – from the private chapel of the royal family to another room in the castle.

Before the procession, the Royal Guards in their large black bear hairs and dozens of representatives of other military corps carpeted the manicured lawn of the castle’s central courtyard as they played the marching band.

Under bright sunshine, the Duke’s personal car arrived, pulled by his two ponies and wearing the deceased’s cap and gloves.

On the steps of the chapel were positioned the representatives of the cavalry, dressed in full dress, with their metal torsos and their helmets with long plumes.

The bearers then entered the coffin, for the final ceremony.