Why didn’t Princes Harry and Andrew wear military uniform at the Queen’s funeral?
We explain why neither the Duke of Sussex nor his uncle, Prince Andrew wore military uniform at the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II
Wednesday 8 January 2020 marked a turning point in the recent history of the British monarchy. It was on that day that Prince Harry decided, together with his wife Meghan Markle, to give up his life and work within the royal family. A decision that also had economic and personal consequences.
On the one hand, Harry was stripped of his noble titles and his military functions in British royalty. Likewise, he also assumed the fact that he would stop receiving public funds. His titles included Captain General of the Royal Marines, and he even served two frontline tours in Afghanistan. In spite of forgiving his royal and military duties, he still holds the title of Duke of Sussex after reaching an agreement with Buckingham Palace.
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It means that he is not authorised to wear the uniform in official acts, unlike his elder brother William. With one of Charles’ sons in uniform but not the other was a talking point at the funeral of the siblings’ grandmother, Elizabeth II, although Harry was granted permission to join other younger members of the royal familay, including his brother, to hold the vigil as the Queen lay in state at the weekend. Harry appeared in military uniform for the occasion but without the initials ER on his epaulettes. The ER initials are traditionally only worn by those who are ‘in service’ of the monarch. It draws attention to Harry who spent has a decade of military service under his belt.
A similar ban is in place for Prince Andrew, Charles III’s brother but for very different reasons. In January this year, Andrew was stripped of his military affiliations and royal patronages with the approval of his mother, after being linked to the Jeffrey Epstein sex scandal. Prince Andrew was not allowed to wear military uniform at the funeral of his father, the Duke of Edinburgh, despite having served in the Royal Air Force in the Falklands War.
Both have today dressed in morning suits, with the civil decorations, the Jubilees of the Queen in which they have participated.
Only royals are allowed to wear suits
The reason is that only active royals are allowed to wear military uniform at ceremonial events. Regarding the procession of Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin, the five protocol acts of the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II are: the religious service in St. Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh, which took place on Last Monday, the procession of the coffin to Westminster Hall that took place on Wednesday, the vigil over the Queen lying-in-state, the funeral at Westminster Abbey and the burial service in Windsor.
What does ER mean?
The royal cypher ER, which stand for Elizabeth Regina appears on the military uniforms of the army and navy as well as some clothes of royal staff. It appears as “E II R”, which represents Elizabeth II and Regina, which is the latin word for queen. The new royal cypher to be used by King Charles will be “C III R”.
The monograms of other members of the Royal Family are designed by the Lord Lyon College of Arms or Court and must then be approved by the King. All royal insignia now must be changed from royal seals, thrones, currency, stamps as well as the emblem that the military wear on their epaulettes.