Prince Philip, 99, will take part in rare public engagement to transfer his role as Colonel-in-Chief of The Rifles to the Duchess of Cornwall – days after joining the Queen at Princess Beatrice’s surprise wedding
- Duke of Edinburgh, 99, will take part in a rare public engagement this week
- He will transfer his role as Colonel-in-Chief of The Rifles to Duchess of Cornwall
- Royals will take part in ceremonies nearly 100 miles apart to mark the occasion
- Prince Philip, who retired in 2017, will be at Windsor and Camilla at Highgrove
The Duke of Edinburgh is to take part in a rare official public engagement this week.
Prince Philip, who retired in 2017, will transfer his role as Colonel-in-Chief of The Rifles to the Duchess of Cornwall on Wednesday.
However the royals will not be together and will instead carry out separate ceremonies some 100 miles apart.
Amid social distancing, Prince Philip, 99, will remain at Windsor Castle, where he is living with the Queen, 99, while the duchess will be at Highgrove House in Gloucestershire.
The Duke of Edinburgh will transfer his role as Colonel-in-Chief of The Rifles to the Duchess of Cornwall on Wednesday. Pictured last year with General Sir Nicholas Carter, the former Colonel Commandant of The Rifles, and General Sir Patrick Sanders, who succeeded him
Prince Philip and the Duchess of Cornwall will not be pictured together and will instead carry out separate ceremonies some 100 miles apart from each other. Pictured, Camilla today
The Duke of Edinburgh has served as Colonel-in-Chief of The Rifles for 67 years.
At Windsor, four Buglers of The Band and Bugles of The Rifles will sound The Rifles Assembly upon the duke’s arrival.
Assistant Colonel Commandant, Major General Tom Copinger-Symes, will offer the salute and thank Philip for his 67 years of support and service to The Rifles, and their forming and antecedent regiments.
The Buglers will then sound The Rifles Regimental Call, followed by the No More Parades call, to mark the duke’s final ceremony as Colonel-in-Chief.
Immediately afterwards, four Buglers will sound The Rifles Assembly in Highgrove, connecting the two ceremonies.
The duchess will be addressed by The Rifles’ Colonel Commandant, General Sir Patrick Sanders, who will welcome her as the new colonel-in-Chief.
The outing comes days after Prince Philip joined the Queen at the wedding of Princess Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, pictured
The engagement will come just days after the Duke of Edinburgh joined the Queen at the wedding of their granddaughter Princess Eugenie.
Eugenie, 31, the eldest daughter of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, married Italian property developer Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi in a secret surprise service on Friday at the Royal Chapel of All Saints, in the grounds of her parents’ Windsor home.
In keeping with government guidelines, the intimate ceremony was attended by fewer than 30 guests, all of whom were ‘close family’.
Among the number were Prince Philip and the Queen, who posed for a formal photograph outside the church with the happy couple.
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