Royal seating protocols collide with pandemic rules

The seating arrangements for the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral were a mix of ancient and very, very modern.

The Queen, Prince Andrew, Princess Anne, Vice-Admiral Timothy Lawrence and Prince Harry at St George’s Chapel. Picture: Getty Images

The seating arrangements for the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral were a mix of ancient and very, very modern — where the protocols of centuries of tradition collided with British government rules imposed to deal with a pandemic.

Just 30 mourners were admitted to St George’s Chapel, Windsor, with the Queen to the fore, sitting alone in a face mask, socially distanced from her family, scattered in pockets on either side of the quire. They all wore masks.

The mourners were arranged in order of seniority, first the Queen’s children and then her grandchildren, alternating from one side of the aisle to the other.

The arrangement meant the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge sat across the chapel from the Duke of Sussex, the feuding brothers separate but looking at each other over the tomb of Henry VIII.

Opposite the Queen were the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall.

In line with the ancient rules of royal primogeniture, which were changed only a few years ago to allow women their place in the line of succession, the Queen’s nearest companion was the Duke of York, who was three seats away, ahead of his older sister the Princess Royal and her husband, Vice-Admiral Sir Tim Laurence.

On Charles and Camilla’s side of the chapel were the Earl and Countess of Wessex and their two children and, a little further down, William and Kate.

Behind them sat Princess Beatrice, Princess Eugenie and Zara Phillips with their respective husbands, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, Jack Brooksbank and former England rugby player Mike Tindall.

The Tindalls named their third child, born a month ago, Lucas Philip in tribute to his great-grandfather the duke.

Peter Phillips, Zara’s brother, was also on that side of the chapel, like Harry seated alone.

Buckingham Palace said the Queen faced “very difficult decisions” in drawing up a guest list of only 30. To honour her husband’s wishes, she included three of his German relatives, two great nephews and a distant cousin — descendants of Philip’s sisters, who married German princes and were denied their places at his wedding in 1947 because of anti-German sentiment at the time. They were seated at the rear of the chapel.

Also taking a seat in the quire was Philip’s close friend Countess Mountbatten of Burma, the wife of Earl Mountbatten of Burma, the grandson of Philip’s uncle.

Buckingham Palace said the earl was unwell and unable to go to the funeral, with the countess “attending as his representative”. She was a close confidante of Philip despite a 30-year age difference. The duke taught her to drive a horse-drawn carriage.

Others present included the Dukes of Gloucester and Kent; the Earl of Snowdon and Lady Sarah Chatto, the children of the late Princess Margaret; and Princess Alexandra, who is not only the Queen’s first cousin but also a cousin once removed to the duke.

Other members of the family unable to attend included the Duchess of Sussex, who is in California, expecting her second child.

She watched the service on a private livestream.

The Sunday Times