Prince Harry may be barred from royal family gatherings after the funeral

Via

News Desk

Updated on April 16, 2021

42 Comments

See more articles on:

get top stories via email

On Saturday, April 17, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, will attend his grandfather’s funeral.

However, after Philip’s funeral, strict coronavirus laws in the UK could prohibit the Duke of Sussex from attending any personal family events.

An expert has cautioned that Prince Harry’s quarantine time may prevent him from other attending family gatherings.

Harry is currently quarantining at Frogmore Cottage, the Sussexes’ official UK home, where they stayed before moving to California. The Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral will be a low-key event due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Harry will be released from confinement in time for the service. In accordance with current UK restrictions, he will then travel to Frogmore Cottage to extend his quarantine for another five days.

Just 30 people are allowed to attend the solemn event, and it is expected that the British monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, will be seated alone throughout the service. According to reports, the queen will not be allowed to have someone within six feet of her due to stringent laws requiring anyone attending a funeral to remain at least two meters separate from anyone that are not family members.

As such, Prince Harry is likely to be omitted from all royal family events.

Victoria Murphy, a royal author, talked on the Royally Obsessed podcast about what it might mean for the Duke of Sussex.

She said, “There has been speculation that they might get together before or after the funeral.”

“But, of course, because of Covid they shouldn’t really. Gatherings of that size are not allowed other than for a funeral. I think even outside you’re still limited to two households and six people, unless it’s for specific things .”

“Also you have this situation with Harry, where he is supposed to be quarantining other than when he’s at the funeral

“He has flown over here and he is allowed to, on compassionate grounds, attend the funeral service. But he is supposed to be quarantining outside of that. So he shouldn’t be spending time with anyone.

“Certainly we’re not going to see evidence of anything happening before or after because it shouldn’t so we would presume it isn’t.

“Harry’s got a 10-day quarantine period to go through, five days before and five days after.

“There were some suggestions that he could take a test and be relieved of that.”

Over the coronavirus pandemic, the royal family – including Prince Harry – has worked tirelessly to set a positive lead by performing royal roles remotely and adhering to social distancing laws.

There will be no military uniforms worn by members of the royal family at Prince Philip’s funeral. The Queen is said to have taken this decision in order to show a united front as a family. She determined that the dress code for the funeral will be mourning coats with black ties for the men and plain black dresses for the ladies.

It’s possible that both Prince Harry and Prince Andrew are to blame for this decision. Since quitting royal duties and moving to the United States in January 2020, the Duke of Sussex was asked to give up his honorary military titles. As a result, he is unable to wear a combat uniform.

The Duke of York, on the other hand, is said to have insisted that he attend the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral in the Admiral’s outfit. Andrew was appointed an honorary Vice-Admiral of the Royal Navy in 2015, before stepping down from royal duties in 2019 due to his relationship with imprisoned sex abuser Jeffrey Epstein. To commemorate his 60th birthday, he was supposed to be elevated to Admiral in 2020, but he decided to wait until he resumed his official duties as a serving member of the royal family.