Prince Philip funeral: Palace releases order of service

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Simon Armitage wrote a moving eulogy to the Duke of Edinburgh – who served his country with distinction during the Second World War. The poem, entitled The Patriarchs, refers to the survival of the duke and his generation, who endured the rise of fascism and world war, as “the stuff of minor miracle”.

In his first poem written as laureate for a royal occasion since his appointment in May 2019, Mr Armitage paid tribute to the “husbands to duty” and “great-grandfathers from birth” who became the “inner core and outer case” for their families.

Speaking as the poem was released ahead of the duke’s funeral today, Mr Armitage, 57, said: “It’s a commemorative piece that tries to say something about the generation he came from.

“We maybe think of Prince Philip as somebody who embodied that generation and through his passing, it felt like that generation was coming to an end.

“I didn’t know the duke but there is the idea that he didn’t like a fuss and hated sycophancy and I didn’t want the poem to be part of a chorus of sycophancy.”

The poem’s first stanza talks about the “unseasonal snow” which fell on the day of the duke’s death – aged 99 – last Friday.

It goes on to call the duke’s wartime generation “that crew whose survival was always the stuff of minor miracle”.

He also addresses Philip’s eventful early life.

The “orange-crate coracles” refer to how the then-baby prince was rescued by the Royal Navy after his uncle, King Constantine I, was forced to abdicate the Greek throne.

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Philip’s distinguished military career and bravery in the Royal Navy during the Second World War are also paid tribute to.

The then naval officer played a pivotal role in the several crucial naval battles during the conflict and was mentioned in dispatches for his bravery.

The poem mentions “flaming decoy boats” and “side-stepped torpedoes” which references the 1943 Allied invasion of Sicily when German bombers damaged Philip’s ship, HMS Wallace, in a night-time attack.

The young duke proposed launching a makeshift raft, equipped with smoke floats, which in the darkness fooled the German bombers into thinking they had damaged the destroyer.

It worked and his actions saved their lives.

The second stanza describes his generation as “great-grandfathers from birth”.

And paying tribute to his dedication to the Queen during their 73-year marriage, it talks of the generation which Philip embodied as “husbands to duty”.

Mr Armitage added: “It can seem from our perspective, from younger generations, that they were always natural-born great-grandfathers and were destined to be that.”

The poem also talks of the duke’s generation as the “last of the great avuncular magicians” and how they “kept their best tricks for the grand finale: Disproving Immortality and Disappearing Entirely”.

The honorary royal title of poet laureate, which dates back to 1668, is awarded to a poet whose work is of national significance.

There was no formal obligation on Mr Armitage to produce a poem for the occasion but he said there were “historical expectations”.

He added: “I had over the last four or five months some ideas about how I might approach it but when his passing happened I threw them all out. I’m really pleased with how this poem turned out.”

The poet revealed that he had only met Philip “very fleetingly” once at an event at Buckingham Palace.

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