It is with great sadness that I inform our residents about the death of HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. https://www.royal.uk/
We are expecting a national online book of remembrance to be launched by Buckingham Palace as, due to covid, it would not be appropriate to have physical books and we will promote this link to yourselves and residents as soon as it is available.
The funeral is expected to take place 8 days after the day of death (expected to be on Saturday 17 April)
The Duke of Edinburgh is expected to receive a Ceremonial Royal Funeral and other Members of The Royal Family will receive Non-Ceremonial Royal Funerals.
- If residents spontaneously lay any flowers in Slough we will react and manage this, however advice from the National Association of Civic Officers, informed by the Palace, is that it is not appropriate to encourage the laying of flowers due to covid.
- Cancellation of Existing Planned Events may be appropriate on the day of death, the eve of the funeral and the day of the funeral, but take careful note of the public mood and consider whether further scaling back is necessary.
- Dress Code throughout the period between and including the day of death to the day of the funeral should be black tie and / or black rosette for those who wish to wear them.
- Marking a Silence during the Ceremonial Royal Funeral. If the funeral is televised and large numbers of people are expected to be watching it at home or locally on big screens, any public ceremony simply to mark the Silence may not be appropriate. However, if the funeral takes place on a weekday and it is not a day of national mourning (in other words, it is a normal working day), it may be announced that a National Silence is to be observed during the funeral ceremony. Most authorities now have a set of arrangements in place which they implement when marking a national Silence and these can be used for this purpose. Guidance will be given on the National Association of Civic Officers (NACO) Noticeboard as it becomes apparent whether or not this will be appropriate.
- Windsor and Maidenhead have a traffic management plan for the expected crowds at the royal residences.