Before her death on Thursday, September 8, 2022, Queen Elizabeth, Britain’s longest-reigning monarch, lost her husband, Prince Philip, on April 9, 2022.
His body was lowered 15 feet into the 200-year-old Royal Vault beneath St George Chapel at Windsor Castle.
The body has remained there to date, but by the evening of Monday, September 19, 2022, it will be moved to the King George VI Memorial Chapel, not far away from where he currently lies.
There, the late monarch and her late husband will be reunited.
But what is the significance behind this?
According to thelist.com, Prince Philip’s current resting place is only a temporary arrangement until he is reunited with his wife, the Queen.
Being the consort of the Queen, Philip has always had to be two paces behind her, as tradition demands.
This is for a very specific reason: the Orders of Precedence.
According to the traditions, the Queen always took the lead, and that applies in death too.
Already, the vault at King George VI Memorial Chapel, not far away, has been earmarked as the Queen’s final resting place.
Built in 1810 and 1814, the vault houses the remains of the Queen’s father, King George VI; her mother, the Queen Mother; and her sister, Princess Margaret.
In the order of precedence, Prince Philip’s body couldn’t be taken there before the Queen’s; therefore, his body had to be kept somewhere temporarily.
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip were married for 73 years.
ghanaweb.com
