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Prince Philip's funeral details announced

Prince Philip's royal ceremonial funeral will take place next Saturday, April 17 at 3pm (midnight April 18 AEST) at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle.

It will be a slimmed-down service amid the COVID-19 pandemic that will be entirely closed to the public.

Philip, also known as the Duke of Edinburgh, took part in planning his funeral and its focus on family was in accordance with his wishes. The 99-year-old duke, who died Friday, also took part in designing the modified Land Rover that will carry his coffin.

READ MORE: What happens in the days after Prince Philip's death?

"Although the ceremonial arrangements are reduced, the occasion will still celebrate and recognise the duke's life and his more than 70 years of service to the Queen, the UK and the Commonwealth," a palace spokesman said Saturday while speaking on condition of anonymity in line with policy.

RELATED: 'You will be greatly missed': Prince Harry and Meghan pay tribute

Prince Harry, Philip's grandson who stepped away from royal duties last year and now lives in California, will attend the service along with other members of the royal family. His wife, the duchess of Sussex, who is pregnant, has been advised by her doctor not to attend.

Downing Street has announced UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will not attend the funeral, to allow another family member to take his place.

"The prime minister has throughout wanted to act in accordance with what is best for the Royal household, and so to allow for as many family members as possible will not be attending the funeral on Saturday," a statement from Downing Street said on Saturday.

Prince Harry is said to be greatly concerned about his grandfather following his recent hospitalisation.

Palace officials said the ceremony would be conducted strictly in line with the British government's COVID-19 guidelines, which restrict the number of people attending funerals to 30.

They declined to say whether the royal family would be required to wear masks.

The palace appealed to the public not to gather in Windsor, and for those who wished to pay their respects to Philips to stay at home instead.

"While there is sadness that the public will not be able to physically be part of events to commemorate the life of the duke, the royal family asks that anyone wishing to express their condolences do so in the safest way possible and not by visiting Windsor or any other royal palaces to pay their respects,'' the palace spokesman said.

"The family's wish is very much that people continue to follow the guidelines to keep themselves and others safe.''

The announcement comes after military teams across the UK and on ships at sea fired 41-gun salutes Saturday to mark the death of Philip, honouring the former naval officer and husband of Queen Elizabeth II whom they considered one of their own.

Batteries in London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast — the capitals of the four nations that make up the United Kingdom — as well as other cities around the UK and the Mediterranean outpost of Gibraltar fired the volleys at one-minute intervals beginning at midday (9pm AEST).

Ships including the HMS Montrose, a frigate patrolling the Persian Gulf, offered their own salutes.

"The Duke of Edinburgh served among us during the Second World War, and he remained devoted to the Royal Navy and the Armed Forces as a whole," Gen. Nick Carter, chief of the defence staff, said in a statement.

"A life well-lived. His Royal Highness leaves us with a legacy of indomitable spirit, steadfastness and an unshakeable sense of duty."

Members of the Commonwealth, a group of 54 countries headed by the monarch, were also invited to honour Philip.

The Australian Defence Force began its salute at 5pm outside Parliament House in Canberra, and New Zealand planned to offer its own tribute on Sunday.

Members of the public continued to honour Philip's life of service on Saturday, leaving flowers outside Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle despite appeals from authorities and the royal family to refrain from gathering.

FULL STATEMENT FROM BUCKINGHAM PALACE:

The Funeral of His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh will take place at St George's Chapel, Windsor on Saturday, 17th April 2021 at 1500hrs. The service will be preceded by a Ceremonial Procession inside the grounds of Windsor Castle.

The Duke of Edinburgh's coffin, covered with His Royal Highness's Personal Standard and dressed with a wreath of flowers, is resting in the Private Chapel at Windsor Castle, where it will remain until the day of the Funeral.

On Saturday 17th April, The Duke of Edinburgh's coffin will be moved by a Bearer Party found by The Queen's Company, 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards. Positioned in the Quadrangle at Windsor Castle will be representative detachments drawn from His Royal Highness's military special relationships.

His Royal Highness's coffin will be carried in a purpose-built Land Rover – which The Duke was involved in the design of – flanked by military Pall Bearers, in a small Ceremonial Procession from the State Entrance to St George's Chapel, for the Funeral Service. Members of the Royal Family and The Duke of Edinburgh's Household will walk behind the coffin from the Quadrangle, down Chapel Hill and into Horseshoe Cloister. The Funeral Service will begin with a National Minute's Silence at 1500hrs.

The Funeral Service will be attended by Her Majesty The Queen and Members of the Royal Family. The coffin, carried by a Bearer Party found by the Royal Marines, will be received at the top of the West Steps of St George's Chapel by the Dean of Windsor and the Archbishop of Canterbury. The Duke of Edinburgh's Naval Cap and Sword will be placed on the coffin ahead of the service and His Royal Highness's Insignia will be laid on the Altar of the Chapel. At the conclusion of the service, His Royal Highness will be interred in the Royal Vault in St George's Chapel.

Union Flags flying at half-mast at Royal Residences will remain at half-mast until the day after the Funeral. It is The Queen's wish that the Royal Family will observe two weeks of Royal Mourning, starting yesterday.

What happens in the days after Prince Philip's death?

The United Kingdom is now in mourning following the news Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh's death on Friday.

The Queen's husband, and Britain's longest-serving royal consort, will be farewelled next Saturday April 17, Buckingham Palace has announced.

The Duke was entitled to a full state funeral at Westminster Abbey but had requested a "no-fuss" send-off and in-keeping with his wishes, he will be given a royal ceremonial funeral at St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle.

LIVE UPDATES: Prince Philip dies aged 99

In the hours after his death, the UK's College of Arms confirmed the Duke would not be given a state funeral or lie in state for public mourning and has asked Britons to stay away and instead, watch the service from home as it's broadcast on TV.

The revised funeral arrangements due to the current COVID-19 restrictions in the UK "still very much reflect the personal wishes of the Duke", Buckingham Palace said.

Official Royal Mourning will last for two weeks from the day of Prince Philip's passing (on Friday), while the National Mourning period will officially last for one week — until the funeral service next Saturday.

Union Flags flying at half-mast at Royal Residences will remain at half-mast until the day after the Funeral.

So, what happens between now and then?

Operation Forth Bridge

Operation Forth Bridge – the codename used to signify the death of Prince Philip – is now under way.

Simon Morgan, who spent many years as a member of the Royal Protection Detail, said the plan is in place so everyone knows the protocol.

"Forth Bridge was always very much a low-key occasion," he told Weekend Today.

"That was the Duke's own words. Everything with the Duke was always very low key. What we are going to see now, due to the current COVID restriction, an even more low-key event.

"Certainly I think that will come out in the next couple of days as to what that will actually look like," Mr Morgan said.

From Monday in the UK funerals can have up to 30 people attend, which will also impact the size of the service.

READ MORE: Prince Philip, the longest-serving British royal consort

Day of death

This marks the first day of the mourning process.

Prior to his death, Prince Philip made his wishes clear – he did not want a state funeral, nor a lying in state.

Flags will be lowered to half-mast around the country, and members of parliament in the UK are expected to wear black armbands on their left arms.

READ MORE: Tributes to Prince Philip after royal family announced death the Duke of Edinburgh's death, aged 99

The ceremonial mace that sits at the House of Commons will be draped in black, or have a black bow fastened to it.

Councils will be encouraged to scale back official business.

The Queen will enter an official period of mourning until the Duke is laid to rest.

Queen Elizabeth poses for a family portrait with a young Charles and Anne

This means she will not conduct any affairs of state and laws will not be presented for royal assent.

After seven days

The body was expected to be taken to St James's Palace on day seven.

However, in line with His Royal Highness's wishes, it will instead be lying in rest in the Private Chapel at Windsor Castle, where it has been since day one and will remain until the day of the Funeral.

His children, Charles, Anne, Andrew and Edward, together with their families, are expected to hold a vigil ahead of the funeral service the following day.

Prince laid to rest

There will be a service at St George's Chapel, in Windsor Castle next Saturday, April 17.

The service will be preceded by a Ceremonial Procession inside the grounds of Windsor Castle.

The service will only be attended by 30 people — including the Duke's children and grandchildren as well as his long-serving staff including his valet, page and private secretary – due to COVID restrictions.

All of the party, except the Queen, will walk behind the coffin, covered with His Royal Highness's Personal Standard and dressed with a wreath of flowers, from the Quadrangle, down Chapel Hill and into Horseshoe Cloister.

The Funeral Service will begin with a National Minute's Silence at 3pm (midnight April 18 AEST).

The Duke of Edinburgh's Naval Cap and Sword will be placed on the coffin ahead of the service and His Royal Highness's Insignia will be laid on the Altar of the Chapel.

The coffin, carried by a Bearer Party found by the Royal Marines, will be received at the top of the West Steps of St George's Chapel by the Dean of Windsor and the Archbishop of Canterbury.

At the conclusion of the service, His Royal Highness will be interred in the Royal Vault in St George's Chapel.

It's understood he will remain there until the Queen passes, upon which they will both be buried in the Memorial Chapel, their coffins interred together, forever.

'My dear papa'

Prince Charles said the royal family is "deeply grateful'' for outpouring of support they've received following the death of his father, Prince Philip.

In a deeply personal message, the heir to the throne said he was touched by the number of people around the world who have shared the family's loss and sorrow.

"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,'' Charles said speaking from outside his southwestern England home of Highgrove.

READ MORE: Prince Philip's funeral details announced

Prince Charles pays tribute to his father Prince Philip

"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.''

Philip, 99, died Friday. The palace says a royal ceremonial funeral will take place April 17 at Windsor Castle — a slimmed-down service amid the COVID-19 pandemic that will be entirely closed to the public.

RELATED: World reacts to Prince Philip's death

The palace insisted the royals would strictly adhere to national virus guidelines, measures that in theory would entail mask wearing in an enclosed space and social distancing. The palace declined to comment on specifics.

Philip, the queen's husband of 73 years who was also known as the Duke of Edinburgh, took part in planning his own funeral and its focus on family was in accordance with his wishes. The duke also took part in designing the modified Land Rover that will carry his coffin.

"Although the ceremonial arrangements are reduced, the occasion will still celebrate and recognise the duke's life and his more than 70 years of service to the Queen, the UK and the Commonwealth," a palace spokesman said Saturday while speaking on condition of anonymity in line with policy.

Prince Harry, Philip's grandson who stepped away from royal duties last year and now lives in California, will attend the service along with other members of the royal family.

His wife, the duchess of Sussex, who is pregnant, has been advised by her doctor not to attend.

Prince Philip dies aged 99

Volcanic Ash Covering St. Vincent After La Soufriere Eruption

Extremely heavy ashfall has rained down on parts of the eastern Caribbean island of St Vincent a day after a powerful explosion at La Soufriere volcano forced the evacuations of thousands of residents.

Nations ranging from Antigua to Guyana offered help by either shipping emergency supplies to their neighbour or agreeing to temporarily open their borders to the roughly 16,000 evacuees.

The volcano, which last erupted in 1979, kept rumbling as experts warned that explosive eruptions could continue for days or possibly weeks. A previous eruption in 1902 killed some 1,600 people.

“The first bang is not necessarily the biggest bang this volcano will give,” Richard Robertson, a geologist with the University of the West Indies’ Seismic Research Centre, said during a press conference.

The volcano last erupted in 1979 (Orvil Samuel/AP)

 

Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves asked people to remain calm, have patience and keep protecting themselves from the coronavirus as he celebrated that no deaths or injuries were reported after Friday’s eruption in the northern tip of St Vincent, part of an island chain that includes the Grenadines and is home to more than 100,000 people.

“Agriculture will be badly affected, and we may have some loss of animals, and we will have to do repairs to houses, but if we have life, and we have strength, we will build it back better, stronger, together,” he said in an interview with NBC Radio, a local station.

Mr Gonsalves said that depending on the damage caused by the explosion, it could take up to four months for life to return to normal.

As of Friday, 2,000 people were staying in 62 government shelters while four empty cruise ships floated nearby, waiting to take other evacuees to nearby islands.

Those staying in shelters were tested for Covid-19, and anyone testing positive would be taken to an isolation centre.

The first explosion occurred on Friday morning, a day after the government ordered mandatory evacuations based on warnings from scientists who noted a type of seismic activity before dawn on Thursday that meant magma was on the move close to the surface.

As of Friday, 2,000 people had been evacuated to government shelters (Orvil Samuel/AP)

The explosion shot an ash column more than 33,000 feet (seven kilometres) into the sky, with lightning crackling through the towering cloud of smoke late on Friday.

The volcanic activity forced the cancellation of several flights while falling ash limited evacuations in some areas due to poor visibility.

Officials warned that Barbados, St Lucia and Grenada could see light ashfall as the 4,003-foot (1,220-metre) volcano continued to rumble.

The majority of ash was expected to head northeast into the Atlantic Ocean.

La Soufriere previously had an effusive eruption in December, prompting experts from around the region to fly in and analyse the formation of a new volcanic dome and changes to its crater lake, among other things.

 

 

The post Volcanic Ash Covering St. Vincent After La Soufriere Eruption appeared first on The St Kitts Nevis Observer.

Protests around Australia to stop Indigenous deaths in custody

Thousands seeking justice and change have attended rallies around Australia to voice anger and frustration over the number of Indigenous deaths in custody.

Tensions were high as around 1,500 protestors marched from the steps of Sydney's Town Hall to the Domain for the Stop Deaths in Custody rally today.

Around 50 police watched on and helped with traffic flow around the CBD. 

Since the Royal Commission report into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody was handed down in 1991, 474 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have died in custody, including five since the start of March this year.

READ MORE: Officers 'not responsible' for indigenous man's death in custody

Signs and banners held by protesters read 'Justice Now', 'Stop Killing Us' and 'Shame Australia'.

David Dungay Junior was just weeks away from release when he died in Long Bay jail in December 2015.

https://twitter.com/janegoldnbn/status/1380723662383316996

The 26-year-old was eating Tim Tams in his cell when a guard ordered him to stop and he refused.

Corrective Services officers then ordered Dungay be moved into a different cell with CCTV and armed guards were called in to perform a "cell extraction".

According to the incident report published by the NSW Health Department, Dungay died "during a use of physical restraint and rapid tranquillisation in an inpatient mental health unit." The cause of death was "unascertained".

His death had parallels with that of George Floyd in the United States. He was held down by prison officers and said "I can't breathe" before he died.

His mother Leetona Dungay told the crowd of protestors she is still waiting for justice.

"No more Royal Commissions. We want justice. Keep fighting until we live in a country where black lives matter," Ms Dungay said.

Greens MP David Shoebridge also spoke on the steps of Town Hall, passionately telling the rally "something's rotten in Australia".

Officers have been cleared of wrongdoing in the death in custody of David Dungay.

"There's an outpouring of grief for a man who died on the other side of the world, while hundreds of first nations people are being killed in Australia," Mr Shoebridge said.

He said a key recommendation from the royal commission has been ignored as hanging points remain in jails.

Mr Shoebridge called for an independent investigation of each death in custody.

The speeches made at the protest were filled with emotion.

"Sick of hearing about racism? I'm sick of talking about it! Are you angry? Because I am," one speaker told the crowd.

READ MORE: George Floyd died from a lack of oxygen

Protestors stopped for a minute's silence near Hyde Park, remembering those who have died in custody and shouted for police to "take a seat".

Large photographs of those who have died held aloft by their family members.

Rallies were held in other capital cities around Australia today, including Brisbane and Melbourne.