Senior royals gather to honor Prince Philip at memorial

Senior royals from around the world are gathering for a memorial service for Queen Elizabeth II’s late husband at Westminster Abbey that will incorporate hymns and other touches dropped from his funeral last year due to the pandemic

Britain Prince Philip Memorial (Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Senior royals from around the world are gathering Tuesday for a memorial service for Prince Philip at Westminster Abbey that will incorporate hymns and other touches dropped from his funeral last year because of the pandemic.

Buckingham Palace hasn't yet said whether Philip's widow, Queen Elizabeth II, will attend the service of thanksgiving. The 95-year-old monarch was deeply involved in planning the event, but she has experience unspecified mobility issues in recent weeks.

Buckingham Palace is expected to confirm on Tuesday morning whether she will attend.

Elizabeth, who recently recovered from COVID-19, didn’t go to a Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey earlier this month, but she continued with other scheduled engagements, including in-person audiences.

About 1,800 family members and guests have been invited to the memorial. Only 30 people attended last year’s funeral, conducted under the strict COVID-19 lockdown rules then in place that forced the queen to sit alone wearing a black mask as she mourned the loss of her husband, who she called her rock.

Philip died on April 9 at age 99.

Tuesday’s service will feature the hymn “Guide Me, O Thou Great Redeemer,” fulfilling one of Philip’s wishes for his funeral that wasn’t carried out because of restrictions that banned singing.

Young people participating in programs run by the prince’s Duke of Edinburgh charity and youth cadet associations will line the steps of the abbey to greet guests for the service.

Britain’s royal family will attend, together with about 30 foreign royals, including Prince Albert of Monaco, Denmark’s Queen Margrethe, King Harald and Queen Sonja of Norway, and King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia of Spain.

Philip’s wider family and friends are also expected to attend, along with 500 representatives charities and other groups he supported.