A lifetime of service remembered

Personnel from the Royal Air Force, Royal Navy and Royal Marines and the Army will join members of the Royal Family at St George’s Chapel in the grounds of Windsor Castle for the service. It is fitting that the Armed Forces should line the route along which Prince Phillip’s funeral cortège will pass, in death as in his life, service will be at the centre.

The Armed Forces were important to the duke, a veteran of the Royal Navy himself, and this was reflected in the many organisations he worked with in his role as the Queen’s Consort. In 1961, Prince Philip became the President of the Guinea Pig Club – a group of mainly allied airmen treated by the pioneering surgeon Sir Archibald McIndoe for their burns and other disfiguring injuries.

The duke both admired and shared the stoic and resilient qualities of these airmen and his support of the Guinea Pig Club highlighted the work of McIndoe and the challenges facing these men. The club’s members have gone on to inspire future generations of servicemen and women, who the Fund continues to support today.

Part of the HRH The Duke of Edinburgh’s legacy will be the spotlight he has shone on military service, its consequences, and how we must support those who have served their Queen and country.