At 3 p.m. tomorrow Prince Philip will be laid to rest, albeit temporarily, in St. George’s Chapel, Windsor. You may already be familiar with the stunning chapel after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle exchanged their vows there, nearly three years ago.
While tomorrow’s ceremony will be far more somber, the initial resting place of Prince Philip is a beautiful, regal vault for the man who served his queen and country for over 70 years.
The two resting places of Prince Philip
After the funeral, Prince Philip will be interred in the Royal Vault of St. George’s Chapel. However, this will not be his final resting place. The Duke of Edinburgh’s lead-lined coffin will be moved to the King George VI memorial chapel, which was annexed to the main chapel in 1969, on the death of his wife, Queen Elizabeth II.
While the couple will be laid to rest together there after their 73-year marriage, they will also be among those family members cherished by the Queen: her father, George VI, her mother, the Queen Mother and her younger sister, Princess Margaret, who died in 2002.
For the time being, on Saturday, the prince will be lowered into the Royal Vault that lies beneath the Quire in the chapel, where past kings George III, VI and William IV were laid to rest in the 19th century.
While the funeral itself will be a painful occasion for the British sovereign, we can imagine a joy in knowing that one day, after years of service to her nation and the Commonwealth, she’ll be placed next to those she loved during her time on earth.
If you’d like to discover more about the beautiful Gothic chapel — although the word “chapel” is a bit of an understatement for this imposing edifice — read more about it here.
And today we celebrate...