Prince Philip is laid to rest at Windsor

It was the funeral Prince Philip had said he wanted. This is what a quiet family affair looks like in the House of Windsor.

Whatever hardships the pandemic had brought, it had allowed this event to be scaled down to a size the Duke of Edinburgh said he preferred.

It had also allowed the Queen and Philip to spend what turned out to be the last year of his life together. Their seven-decade marriage, celebrated in this photo released this past week.

But now the military bands assembled, to honor his own naval history and the many ceremonial commands he held.

His coffin emerged, draped in his standard, adorned with his officer's cap and sword.

The funeral of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh on April 17, 2021 in Windsor, England. Mark Cuthbert - Pool/UK Press via Getty Images

It was placed on an electrified Land Rover he had helped design. His environmentalist credentials were a feature of the day.

And so were some of the unavoidable, soap opera plot lines that Prince Philip so regretted had become part of this family's story.

Prince Charles led the procession that followed the coffin. Behind him, his sons, William and Harry, walked – not together, but separated, their mutual coolness since Harry left royal duties and moved to California with his wife, Meghan Markle, on parade.

Prince Charles, Prince of Wales;  Prince Andrew, Duke of York; Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex; Prince William, Duke of Cambridge; Peter Phillips; Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex; Earl of Snowdon David Armstrong-Jones; and Vice-Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence follow Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh's coffin during the Ceremonial Procession on April 17, 2021 in Windsor, England. Pool/Samir Hussein, Wireimage via Getty Images

It was a sad echo of the time they had walked together behind a coffin – their mother's – after Princess Diana's death. Philip had told the reluctant princes then that he would support them by walking along with them.

The Queen, who turns 95 herself in a few days, followed by car with a lady-in-waiting. Through life, he had dutifully followed two steps behind her. Now, on his final journey, she followed him.

Funeral procession held for Prince Philip

Philip had written the script ... from the military flourishes, to the readings, to the selection of music.

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II watches as the coffin arrives during the funeral service of Britain's Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh inside St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle. DOMINIC LIPINSKI/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

It was somehow a deeply personal service of one family's private mourning, and a public memorial seen 'round the world at the same time.

Queen Elizabeth drove off. The rest of the family chose to walk back to the royal residences.

And the brothers William and Harry walked side-by-side. Perhaps their grandfather had brought them together once again.

     
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Story produced by Jane Whitfield. Editor: Mark Ludlow.

      
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Funeral held for Prince Philip at St. George's Chapel
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