Buckingham Palace has just announced that only working members of the royal family will be permitted to wear military uniform to the Queen’s funeral on Monday, September 19th. This means that Prince Harry, 37, is expected to wear a morning suit as he and Meghan Markle, 41, stepped down as senior royals back in January 2020, despite his 10 years of military service, which included two tours in Afghanistan.
On the other hand, his older brother William, 40, the new Prince of Wales and very much still a working royal, has already worn his military uniform to the Service of Thanksgiving at St Giles’ Cathedral, Edinburgh, and the procession to Westminster Hall, and is expected to do so for the vigil and funeral at Westminster and the committal service at St George’s Chapel, Windsor.
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Although royal reporters have hinted that Prince Harry is disappointed in the palace's decision, with Royal Editor Omid Scobie saying it was a "huge blow" to him, he is determined to reassure people that his only priority is honoring his grandmother following her death, who he previously described as his "commander-in-chief."
"Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex will wear a morning suit throughout events honoring his grandmother," read an official statement from Prince Harry's spokesperson. "His decade of military service is not determined by the uniform he wears and we respectfully ask that focus remain on the life and legacy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II."
The dress code is very different to that of Prince Philip's funeral last year. According to Roya Nikkhah, a royal editor for the Sunday Times, the late Queen Elizabeth II decided that "everyone should wear suits" to her late husband's funeral so that "everyone was on a level playing field." But things are a little different for the Queen's funeral, which King Charles III is more than aware of!
"This is the first state funeral of a monarch since 1952," Nikkhah said. "This is massive. And so he wants to get everything absolutely technically right, and it's only technically right that only working members of the royal family wear a military uniform. That's when you're going to start to see the difference, very publicly, in terms of who is a working royal and who is not."
Prince Andrew (who has not been regarded as a working royal since 2019) will also not be permitted to wear his military uniform to his mother's funeral, as he was stripped of his royal patronages and military affiliations earlier this year as a result of the sexual assault allegations made against him by Virginia Giuffre, and also due to his close friendship with late convicted sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein.
He will, interestingly, reportedly be allowed to wear his military uniform at the final vigil, which will see the Queen's four children, King Charles III, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew, and Prince Edward, standing at the four sides of her coffin at Westminster Hall. According to Nikkhah, it is said to be a "mark of respect to the Queen."
