Prince Philip funeral: Windsor Castle prepares for service

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Princess Xenia of Hohenlohe-Langenburg spoke of the Duke of Edinburgh’s selflessness, humility and a grand sense of humour on Saturday. She is sadly not in attendance at Prince Philip’s funeral today due to limits of the number of mourners. She will be represented at the funeral by her brother who is one of three more distant relatives invited to the ceremony in Windsor.

The Queen has taken steps to include German relatives of Prince Philip in the ceremony on April 17.

Despite tough restrictions on mourner numbers due to coronavirus restrictions, two of the Duke of Edinburgh’s great-nephews and a distant relative have been invited to the ceremony.

Bernhard the Prince of Baden, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg and Prince Donatus are among the 30 mourners invited to Prince Philip’s funeral at Windsor Castle today.

Bernhard, Hereditary Prince of Baden, is a great-nephew of the Duke’s and is the head of the House of Baden and the grandson of the Duke’s second sister, Princess Theodora.

Prince Donatus, Landgrave of Hesse is related to the Duke by marriage through the first husband of Prince Philip’s youngest sister, Princess Sophie.

Prince Philip’s great-niece Princess Xenia of Hohenlohe-Lagenburg today called the Duke of Edinburgh an “idol” for younger Royal Family members.

Her brother, Prince Philipp of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, is counted among the 30 mourners attending the funeral this afternoon in Windsor.

Speaking from Munich, Princess Xenia told the BBC: “To all of us, he was an idol, he was somebody to look up to, we had enormous respect for him and it was always very exciting when he came to visit, and he came often.

“And this has become clear to me in the week since he’s died – the way he lived his life, his motto, which was an unwritten motto for us, this discipline, this selflessness, this lack of ego, but also his sense of humour always underlying all of that.

“His hard work and the philosophy that the Duke of Edinburgh Awards have given so many young people is something that is constantly underlying our lives, and it’s certainly something that I’ve always aspired to live up to.”

Who is Princess Xenia?

Princess Xenia is the sister of Philipp, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg.

Philipp is the grandson of the Duke’s late eldest sister Princess Margarita Bernhard, 50.

This means he is the great-nephew of Prince Philip.

He is the middle child and only son of Kraft Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg – Margarita’s son – and his first wife, Princess Charlotte of Croÿ.

In a statement about being invited to the funeral, he said: “It really is an incredible honour and we are all extremely touched and privileged to be included on behalf of the wider family.”

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Discussing her brother’s attendance at the funeral, she said it is a special time for her brother to be with her royal cousins.

She said: “It’s a huge honour, obviously, and having spoken to my brother yesterday, he’s just saying it’s a very special time for the cousins to be together and to be representing what is a huge part of the Duke of Edinburgh’s family.

“You just have to think that there were 16 direct cousins of the Prince of Wales… that’s a huge number of people, and there are three descendants that are able to be there to represent us is a huge honour and is deeply felt.”

The Duke of Edinburgh had four older sisters: Princess Margarita, Princess Theodora, Princess Cecile and Princess Sophie.

He was the last survivor of his siblings, with his youngest sister Sophie having died in 2001.

All his sisters married German aristocrats after they fled their Greek home when Philip was a young boy.

Princess Margarita, who was the first great-great-grandchild of Queen Victoria, died in Germany in 1981 aged 76.

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