The Vatican paid tribute to Prince Philip during a remembrance service for the Duke of Edinburgh, husband of Queen Elizabeth, on Saturday, April 19. The prince died on April 9 at the age of 99.
In his homily during the service, Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States within the Holy See’s Secretariat of State, recalled the prince’s honorable and faithful service to the queen, to his country, and to the world.
“The passing of Prince Philip is such an event in the forest of our contemporary history and society,” said the archbishop.
He described the prince as being constant: “always there, a few steps behind, but always present.”
Archbishop Gallagher spoke of the prince’s naval career and noted that he was patron of over 800 charities and organizations.
The prelate said Prince Philip “lived a life of multiple contrasts and some could be reconciled only with difficulty, while others understandably provoked resentment and pain.”
The archbishop opened his homily during the service with “an image far from this place, in the words of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, from the prelude of his epic-poem Evangeline.”
“This is the forest primeval. The murmuring pines and the hemlocks,
Bearded with moss, and in garments green, indistinct in the twilight,
Stand like Druids of eld, with voices sad and prophetic,
Stand like harpers hoar, with beards that rest on their bosoms.
Loud from its rocky caverns, the deep-voiced neighboring ocean
Speaks, and in accents disconsolate answers the wail of the forest.”
Archbishop Gallagher said the forest described in the poem would be full of immense trees of different varieties. In walking through the forest one would “note their presence with awe,” he said.
“It seems they have always been there.” Returning to the forest for many years you take their presence for granted, he added.
“You hardly notice them; they are so much part of the landscape, but when they fall, by human hand or force of nature, it is a mighty sound, an earthquake at the heart of the forest,” said the archbishop.
“When you return you find an apparently irreparable gap in the fabric of the forest, that will take an eternity to fill,” said Archbishop Gallagher.
Prince Philip was “present in so many ways and on so many occasions and scenes,” he said, adding that “for most us he has remained indelibly, through many changes and years, the prince consort.”
Queen Elizabeth stands alone as Philip is laid to rest
Queen Elizabeth bade farewell to Prince Philip at a funeral on Saturday that celebrated his seven decades of service and gave grandsons William and Harry the chance to talk in public for the first time since claims of racism threw the family into crisis.
Elizabeth, dressed in black and in a white trimmed black face mask, stood alone, head bowed as her husband of 73 years was lowered into the Royal Vault of St George’s Chapel in a service attended by senior royals including heir Prince Charles.
Prince Harry, who flew from the United States to attend the funeral, walked and talked with his brother William and wife Kate at the end of the service — the first time they have spoken in public since Harry and his wife Meghan gave an explosive interview to Oprah Winfrey last month.
“We have been inspired by his unwavering loyalty to our Queen, by his service to the Nation and the Commonwealth, by his courage, fortitude and faith,” Dean of Windsor David Conner said.
Philip, who married Elizabeth in 1947, helped the young queen adapt the monarchy to the changing times of the post-World War Two era as the loss of empire and the decline of deference challenged the world’s most prominent royal family.
In 1997, the queen described Philip as her “strength and stay” over their decades of marriage. Now 94, she has reigned for 69 years.
Her husband’s coffin was borne to the chapel on a bespoke Land Rover Defender TD 130 in military green that Philip himself helped to design, as a minute gun fired eight times.
Philip’s children and grandchildren followed behind on foot, evoking memories of the 1997 funeral of Diana when William and Harry — then just 15 and 12 — walked behind their mother’s coffin.
His naval cap and sword lay on top of the coffin, which was covered with the Duke of Edinburgh’s personal standard featuring the Danish coat of arms, the Greek cross, Edinburgh Castle and the stripes of the Mountbatten family.
A wreath of white roses, lilies and jasmine from the queen also adorned the coffin.
There were just 30 mourners inside the chapel because of continuing coronavirus restrictions in Britain. As the service began at 3 p.m., Prime Minister Boris Johnson observed a minute’s silence, along with millions of Britons.
Before the procession, military bands spaced out across the quadrangle of Windsor Castle in brilliant sunshine to play the prince’s chosen music, including “I Vow To Thee My Country,” “Jerusalem,” and “Nimrod.” – with a report from Reuters
