Buckingham Palace said the Queen had “some very difficult” decisions selecting 30 guests for Philip’s funeral, following Covid-19 guidelines
The guest list includes Penelope “Penny” Knatchbull, the 67-year-old countess, who was known also as Lady Romsey and later Lady Brabourne.
Philip used to teach Penny the equestrian sport of carriage driving back in 1994 and they remained friends in the future.
She regularly visited the duke’s Wood Farm cottage at Sandringham. Three German relatives are also invited: Bernhard, Hereditary Prince of Baden; Prince Donatus, Landgrave of Hesse; and Prince Philipp of Hohenlohe-Langenburg.
The list also includes Queen’s first cousins Princess Alexandra, the Duke of Gloucester and the Duke of Kent.
Prince Michael of Kent is on the other hand missing from the list, same as the Duchess of Gloucester and the Duchess of Kent.
Earl of Snowdon and Lady Sarah Chatto and her husband David Chatto – children of the Queen’s sister Princess Margaret – are also invited.
Other names on the list are the Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cornwall, the Princess Royaland husband Vice Admiral Timothy Laurence, the Duke of York, the Earl and Countess of Wessex, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, the Duke of Sussex, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie and their spouses, Peter Phillips and Zara and Mike Tindall.
A Buckingham Palace spokesman said: «At its heart it is still a family event.
«We are following the Covid guidelines. There was a limit on who could be invited as a guest and Her Majesty wanted to ensure that all branches of the duke’s family were there and had to make some very difficult decisions about who would be there.
«For those that unfortunately can’t be there, I’m sure they will be making their own private arrangements about how they commemorate the duke, and indeed celebrate the duke».
Duckess of Sussex, who is about to give birth to her second child, is not attending the funeral; missing from the list are the duke’s 10-great-grandchildren, who are all considered too young to participate.
Full guest list
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