Today, a deeply sad Prince Andrew followed the Queen’s coffin through the streets of London for her state funeral while wearing his morning suit.
After losing his titles, the mourning king was prohibited from wearing his military uniform to the event.
The casket of the Queen departed Westminster Hall, where she had been lying in state, at 10:44 am and arrived at Westminster Abbey at 10:52 am.
The Duke of York, who marched behind Her Majesty’s casket in the Royal procession on Wednesday, was in the same position today behind his mother’s casket.
His brothers and sister, King Charles, Prince Edward, and Princess Anne, are all wearing military uniforms.
Prince Andrew, positioned between the Princess Royal and the Earl of Wessex, quietly lowered his head in remembrance as his siblings raised a salute to their late mother outside Westminster Abbey.
Prince Andrew appeared gloomy as he followed his mother across London in a black morning suit today. The 62-year-old prince was not permitted to wear his military uniform to the Queen’s funeral.
As other members of the royal family saluted the Queen in uniform outside Westminster Abbey, Prince Andrew lowered his head in homage to his cherished mother.
Prince Harry was likewise prohibited from wearing his military uniform during Her Majesty’s state funeral.
Throughout the parade through Westminster, King Charles was accompanied by his siblings Princess Anne, Prince Andrew, and Prince Edward.
He was joined by Prince Harry, who likewise wore no military uniform and lowered his head rather than saluting the deceased monarch.
In addition, the Duke of Sussex was not permitted to wear his military uniform after leaving royal responsibilities. The Prince, joined by his wife, Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, wore military medals on his chest as he trailed behind his grandmother’s coffin.
The decision to exclude Harry and Andrew from wearing military uniforms to celebrations commemorating the death of the Queen at Balmoral on Thursday serves as a reminder of their diminished roles within the Royal Family.
Prince Harry served in the Army for ten years, but in 2020 he was stripped of his honorary military titles after he and his wife Meghan Markle announced they were resigning as senior working royals and relocating abroad.
His uncle, the Duke of York, who was forced to resign from public life in 2019 as a result of the Jeffrey Epstein affair, is the only other member of the royal family who is prohibited from wearing a military uniform during ceremonial occasions and funerals.
Andrew (shown) joined his siblings at a reenactment of the Vigil of Princes from the previous week.
After The Queen’s passing, Prince Andrews was spotted at Balmoral with his daughters reading floral tributes. He was also present at all commemorative ceremonies held in Her Majesty’s honor.
Previously, the Duke of York was permitted to wear his military uniform as he joined his siblings for a ‘last vigil’ at Westminster Hall around the coffin of his late mother.
The Duke of York, 62, was photographed arriving at the vigil in London with his younger brother, Prince Edward, wearing his full uniform after King Charles removed the prohibition on him wearing it.
On Monday, the Queen’s children participated in a similar Vigil of Princes event at Edinburgh’s St Giles’ Cathedral, where they stood around their mother’s coffin.
Prince Andrew did not wear his military uniform during that ceremony because he is no longer a working royal.
On Tuesday, as the Queen’s children, Prince William and Prince Harry, followed the Queen’s coffin from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall, neither the Duke of York nor the Duke of Sussex wore their uniforms; instead, they wore suits.
As Andrew and his siblings ‘took guard’ and surrounding their mother’s casket this evening, the veteran of the Falklands War was permitted to wear his uniform.
King Charles is believed to have eased the prohibition on Andrew’s attire out of respect for his mother.
This evening, the King, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew, and Prince Edward stood guard for 10 minutes over their mother’s coffin while the public filed by.
Other members of the Royal family, including Prince Edward’s wife Sophie Wessex, Princess Anne’s daughter Zara Tindall and her husband Mike, and Prince Andrew’s daughters Beatrice and Eugenie, also sat in the stands and observed.
Camilla, the new Queen Consort, was also in attendance as the family paid their respects to the deceased king.
Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, the husband of Princess Beatrice, seemed visibly saddened as he placed his hands to his face while observing the traditional vigil.
The Queen’s children arrived at Westminster Hall, where they stood silently watch over their mother’s coffin for ten minutes as members of the public filed by.
Prince Andrew was photographed wearing his military uniform as he and Prince Edward arrived at Westminster Hall to attend a vigil in honor of their mother, Queen Elizabeth.
Princess Anne and her husband, Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, were also photographed entering Westminster Hall.
As King Charles has lifted the prohibition on Andrew and Harry wearing their military uniforms, it is believed that the Duke of Sussex will also be permitted to wear his uniform during a separate vigil for the Queen tomorrow evening. This has been hailed as a win for ‘common sense’.
Reportedly, the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Sussex will join the Queen’s six other grandchildren at Westminster Hall for a 15-minute vigil.
It is reported that the eight grandchildren will pay their respects to the Queen by standing in silence next to Her Majesty’s coffin, in a sight reminiscent of the Princes’ Vigil.