‘I miss my father enormously’: Prince Charles pays tribute to ‘dear Papa’

The Queen has decided the royal family will enter two weeks of royal mourning, and engagements will continue appropriate to the circumstances.

The Prince of Wales has paid a moving tribute to his “dear Papa” – highlighting his “remarkable, devoted service to the Queen.”

Speaking from his Gloucestershire home of Highgrove on behalf of the royal family, Charles said: “I particularly wanted to say that my father, for I suppose the last 70 years, has given the most remarkable, devoted service to the Queen, to my family and to the country, but also to the whole of the Commonwealth.”

He added: “As you can imagine, my family and I miss my father enormously,” and said he would be “deeply touched” by the people around the world sharing “our loss and our sorrow”.

The prince said: “My dear Papa was a very special person who I think above all else would have been amazed by the reaction and the touching things that have been said about him, and from that point of view we are, my family, deeply grateful for all that.

“It will sustain us in this particular loss and at this particularly sad time.”

His words come just hours after details of the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral was announced.

No public element of the funeral will be held in line with Covid-19 restrictions.

Public elements of Operation Forth Bridge – the codename for the duke’s funeral plans – were abandoned for fear of drawing crowds including the long held arrangements for military processions through London and Windsor.

Instead, Britons are urged to honour a national minute’s silence as the funeral begins at 3pm. Proceedings will be televised.

The public was today told not to attempt to attend any events in connection to the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral on April 17 in newly issued Government guidance.

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The Cabinet Office reiterated a plea for flowers not to be left at royal residences and advised businesses they may wish to make arrangements to observe the national minute’s silence at 3pm that day.

Firms were not expected to close, and organisers of sporting events were told it is their decision whether fixtures should continue as planned.

The Queen and her family will be following guidelines and wearing face masks as they gather to say their final farewell while socially distanced.

Only 30 people – expected to be the Duke’s children, grandchildren and other close family – will attend as guests.

This group will not include the Duchess of Sussex - who has been advised by her physician not to travel to the UK for the funeral, a Palace spokesman said.

Originally 800 people would have been due to gather to pay their respects to the nation’s longest serving consort, but Philip is known to have wanted a low key affair.

The duke’s coffin will be transported from the castle to the chapel in a specially modified Land Rover he helped to design, and followed by the Prince of Wales and senior royals on foot, a Palace official said.

The Queen has approved the Prime Minister’s recommendation of national mourning, which began on April 9 and runs until and including the day of the funeral.

The Queen has decided the royal family will enter two weeks of royal mourning, and engagements will continue appropriate to the circumstances, a senior royal official said.

The duke died peacefully in his sleep at Windsor Castle on Friday, two months before his 100th birthday, leaving the Queen and the royal family “mourning his loss”.

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