Prince Harry and his wife Meghan may miss Prince Philip’s funeral due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
The Duke of Edinburgh passed away at Windsor Castle this morning aged 99, Buckingham Palace confirmed.
People arriving from the US, like the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, must quarantine for at least five days at either a hotel or a private residence, the Government’s website reads.
Prior to entering the country, they also need to book two coronavirus tests to be taken in the UK.
The Government guidelines on travelling to the UK read: “If you’re travelling to England you must either quarantine in the place you’re staying or in a managed quarantine hotel for 10 days because of coronavirus (COVID-19).
“What you need to do depends on where you travel in the 10 days before you arrive in England.
“You must also get two coronavirus tests after you arrive in England. You’ll need to book these before you travel.”
This period of quarantine may be reduced for a funeral to five days if the second test taken is negative but this would still require a regime of taking another test on the eighth day.
The UK is still in a national lockdown, with restrictions set to be in place until at least 21 June due to the coronavirus pandemic, so funeral arrangements under current health crisis guidelines will affect how the Royal Family will be able to pay their respects at a funeral to the Duke of Edinburgh.
During Covid-19, the UK government has advised that those with increased risk of severe illness from coronavirus to be particularly careful in following social distancing measures.
Under official guidelines, a maximum of 30 people are allowed to attend funerals in the UK and they must socially distance if they do not live together or share a support bubble.
The Duchess may also find it hard to travel due to her pregnancy, making flying a difficult or even impossible prospect.
The Duke of Edinburgh married Princess Elizabeth in 1947, five years before she became Queen, and was the longest-serving royal consort in British history. He carried out more than 20,000 solo engagements.
Together they had four children, eight grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.
The duke had previously been admitted to hospital on 16 February where he remained for two weeks.
He was then transferred to St Bart’s hospital for treatment for an infection and heart condition after which he was discharged on 16 March in “good spirits” according to sources.
You can read all of SWL’s Prince Philip coverage here.
Featured image credit: Mark Jones via Flickr under CC BY 2.0 license
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The Sussexes are weak and gutsless unfortunately. No one wants the Duchess in the UK.Prince Harry should have left for UK when Prince Phillip was I hospital. Thoughtless or self centred?
Like many Tasmanians; I feel the loss of Prince Philip as the loss of one of the family. He has been the Queens ‘rock’ since they fell in love and his relationship with his children seems to be quite individual. It is sad that few of his virtues has been passed on to the next generation. Now the Queens must bear up to widow-hood and I can only hope that her children understand how difficult this will be for her. Some of his grandchildren have let her down more than any.