An Australian representative will stand in front of St George’s Chapel for Prince Philip’s funeral as part of the Duke of Edinburgh’s wish to recognise the country he first visited as a teenager in the Royal Navy.
Prince Philip, who died peacefully in his sleep aged 99 on Friday, will be farewelled at the 15th century chapel at Windsor Castle on Saturday.
Australia’s Defence Advisor in the UK, Commodore Guy Holthouse will reportedly be positioned in front of the chapel as part of Prince Philip’s final homage to Australia.
Mr Holthouse met the Queen as recently as March 31 at an event marking the 100th anniversary of the Royal Australian Air Force.
Prince Philip first sailed into Sydney Harbour on March 14, 1940, as an 18-year-old on the British battleship HMS Ramillies. He is in the front row, second from the left.
Prince Philip visited Australia on more than 20 occasions during his life. He is pictured greeting the public during the Great Aussie Barbecue in Perth in 2011
A clipping from the Daily Telegraph on December 5, 1945 shows Prince Philip “taking a tumble” at Luna Park after a farewell party aboard hit the HMS Whelp earlier in the night
Representatives of other Commonwealth nations including Canada, New Zealand and Trinidad and Tobago will also guard the chapel.
Prince Philip, who was due to turn 100 on June 10 this year, visited Australia on more than 20 occasions during his life.
He first sailed into Sydney Harbour on March 14, 1940, as an 18-year-old on the British battleship HMS Ramillies.
The midshipman, then known as the Prince of Greece, spent a couple of weeks in Sydney enjoying dances and parties with the city’s elite.
The ship then travelled on to Melbourne and Prince Philip spent a week at a sheep station.
‘Perfectly natural life; no frills and no fads,’ he later said of the holiday.
Prince Philip accompanied the newly-crowned Queen Elizabeth II for an epic eight-week tour of Australia in 1954
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, on board HMAS Australia at sea off Townsville, Queensland, during a royal tour of Australia in March 1954
The battleship HMS Ramillies spent four months protecting the Australian Expeditionary Force in the Indian Ocean.
Prince Philip returned to Australia in late 1945 and stayed at Admiralty House in Kirribilli.
He visited the home of the Greek Consul-General and a Greek Orthodox Church and was seen surfing at Palm Beach, in Sydney’s north, and at Bondi Beach, to the city’s east.
A shot of him laughing as he fell out of the revolving barrel at Luna Park made the front page of The Daily Telegraph.
Prince Philip’s next visit to Australia was in 1954, when he accompanied the newly-crowned Queen Elizabeth II for an epic eight-week tour.
They were embarking on a six-month tour of the British Empire only eight months after the Queen’s Coronation, as Prince Charles and Princess Anne stayed in London with a nanny.
In 58 days, the duke visited every state capital, except Darwin, and toured regional centres from Burnie in northern Tasmania to Kalgoorlie in Western Australia and Broken Hill, a mining town in the far-west of New South Wales, with up to three-quarters of Australians catching a glimpse of the Queen and Prince Philip.
Queen Elizabeth II, accompanied by Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, attends a garden party in the grounds of Government House in Canberra in February 1954
Prince Philip sips a glass of Boag beer as he visits the brewery in Launceston in March 2000
Two years after his first official visit down under, he returned to Australia without the Queen to officially open the Melbourne Olympic Games, the first ever summer Olympics to be held in the southern hemisphere.
The Olympic Games of November 1956 was where a 19-year-old athlete from Sydney’s working class Balmain, Dawn Fraser, cemented her place in Australian sporting history, by winning Gold in the 100-metre freestyle.
It was also Australia’s first ever Olympic Games, which famously saw Melburnians billet athletes from around the world in their homes.
Prince Philip’s last trip to Australia was in 2011 with the Queen.
Prince Philip’s ceremonial royal funeral will take place on April 17, and a national minute’s silence will be observed as it begins at 3pm.
The duke will be carried on a specially-modified Land Rover he helped design which Army engineers reportedly prepared after he was admitted to hospital in February.
Just 30 people, expected to be the duke’s children, grandchildren and other close family, will attend his funeral while wearing face masks and socially distancing, due to Covid-19 restrictions.
The Queen and Prince Philip wave to the hundreds of people who came to farewell them at Perth International Airport in 2011
The Duke of Edinburgh opens the Royal Australian Mint in Canberra in 1965
Prince Harry will walk behind the coffin alongside his brother Prince William and the rest of his family at Saturday’s funeral at St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Prince Philip was in the words of the Queen, her ‘strength and stay’.
‘For 65 years, The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme has encouraged over 775,000 young Australians to explore their leadership potential. Forty thousand young Australians are currently participating in the program,’ Mr Morrison said.
New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian also offered her condolences to the Royal Family.
‘The Duke of Edinburgh had a strong and lengthy relationship with NSW, visiting our state many times during his life,’ the premier said.
‘While we mourn his passing at the age of 99, it is the occasion to offer thanks for a very long and dedicated life of service.’
