Behind the queen’s coffin marched her children: Charles III, Princess Anne, Prince Edward and Prince Andrew. Behind them and together, in a gesture of reconciliation, the Prince of Wales, William, and Prince Harry went with his cousin, Peter Phillips. In turn, Camilla Parker Bowles, queen consort; Kate Middleton, Princess of Wales; Meghan Marke, Duchess of Sussex, arrived at the abbey in several cars.
It caught the attention of those who followed the parade, the detail that especially caught the attention was the outfit, both Prince Andrew and Prince Harry, both wore tuxedos and not in military uniform as the Prince of Wales, Princess Anne wore. , Prince Edward, and King Charles III.
The reason for this is due to the rigorous protocol required by Buckingham, which defines that only “active members of the royal house” can carry it. Although, for Prince Harry this protocol to follow was only for the state funeral and he could have carried it in these previous days of mourning.
This decision comes after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle decided to withdraw from activities as members of the royal family.
In the case of Prince Andrew it was a more embarrassing episode, since he was removed from the public activity of the royal family for being related to the pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and the accusations of sexual abuse for which he was singled out. Both Andrés and Harry have worn their insignia on their civilian clothes, something that also happened during the funeral of Philip of Edinburgh, on that occasion it was decided that they would all wear civilian clothes so as not to make any discrepancy noticeable.
It should be noted in military terms that both Harry and Andrew have been the only members of the modern British royal family, along with Philip of Edinburgh, who were part of combat missions abroad. Specifically, the Duke of Sussex was part of the British Army in Iraq and Afghanistan and has dedicated much of his life as royalty to promoting initiatives for active and veteran military personnel such as the Invictus Games.