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Flags continue to fly at half-mast as the councillors and staff of Epping Forest District Council pay their respects to His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
A COVID-safe online book of condolence is available for those who wish to send a personal message of condolence.
Palace statement
A Palace statement issued on Friday 9 April said:
It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen announces the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle.
Further announcements will made in due course. The Royal Family join with people around the world in mourning his loss.
The Royal Family has asked people to consider making a charitable donation rather than leaving flowers. The government has asked members of the public not to gather or leave tributes at royal residences during the Coronavirus pandemic.
Letter to the Palace
Councillor Helen Kane, Chairman of Epping Forest District Council has written on behalf of the Epping Forest district to the Private Secretary to the Duke of Edinburgh to express condolences to Her Majesty and other members of the Royal Family.
Chairman of Council, Councillor Helen Kane wrote:
It is with the most profound regret that I write on behalf of the councillors and residents of Epping Forest District to offer our deepest sympathy and condolences to Her Majesty the Queen on the loss of His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
This must be a moment of great personal sadness to Her Majesty and deeply felt throughout the Royal Family.
However, the loss of the Duke has also reverberated far further afield, across this whole Island and the World beyond. The Duke will be remembered for a lifetime of dedication and service. At the outbreak of war in 1939, he was a very young officer in the Royal Navy. He served with bravery and distinction in some of the most dangerous campaigns of the war including the Mediterranean, Atlantic and Pacific. To the wartime generations, his service in the Royal Navy made him the perfect husband to the future Queen.
Wartime service set the standard by which the Duke lived the rest of his life. A man of great drive and intelligence, the legacy he leaves, epitomised by the Duke of Edinburgh Awards, is rivalled only by the dedication and service of the Queen herself over such a large span of years.
Together with the Duke, Her Majesty has defined the very best qualities of what ‘Great Britain’ or the United Kingdom means to the wider world. His loss will be felt particularly throughout the Commonwealth and beyond.
Please assure Her Majesty of the continuing affection and high esteem in which she and her family are held at this most difficult time.
Councillor Helen Kane
Chairman of Epping Forest District Council
Arrangements
The funeral will be held at St Georges Chapel in Windsor with appropriate changes to manage Coronavirus precautions. A Palace statement confirmed that further details of the funeral arrangements would be published in due course.
You can find information on the The Duke of Edinburgh’s life on The Royal Family website.
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