# Prince Philip has died **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 9, 2021, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-philip-has-died/939670 "2021-04-09T11:08:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2021, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-philip-has-died/939670/241 "2021-04-20T14:43:54Z")
There is a UK flag equivalent to the US flag never dipping. The Royal Standard is never at half mast, because the monarch is always living. ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2021, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-philip-has-died/939670/242 "2021-04-20T15:05:10Z")
> [@peedin](#): > > I did not notice the Union Jack on Phillip’s coffin. Did I miss it, or was it not there? It wasn’t there. His coffin was draped with his personal standard. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2021, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-philip-has-died/939670/243 "2021-04-20T15:29:45Z")
And complicatedly mediaeval it looks: [https://royalcentral.co.uk/uk/the-symbolism-of-the-duke-of-edinburghs-personal-standard-draped-on-his-coffin-158574/](https://royalcentral.co.uk/uk/the-symbolism-of-the-duke-of-edinburghs-personal-standard-draped-on-his-coffin-158574/) ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2021, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-philip-has-died/939670/244 "2021-04-20T15:53:13Z")
I hope that this isn’t too gross of a question. I read that PP’s body will be interred in one vault and then moved to a different one when QE dies. Then he will be in that one with her body. Won’t his body be a rotten mess by then? Or is it that he’ll be embalmed so that it won’t rot? ---
**Author:** ![slash2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@slash2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slash2k)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2021, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-philip-has-died/939670/245 "2021-04-20T15:56:38Z")
Separate coffins, undoubtedly lead-lined. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2021, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-philip-has-died/939670/246 "2021-04-20T15:56:43Z")
I must assume each of them will be in their respective box. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2021, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-philip-has-died/939670/247 "2021-04-20T15:58:37Z")
I worded that poorly. I didn’t think that they’d open the coffin and plop her in. I am imagining his goo filled coffin being moved from one place to the other. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2021, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-philip-has-died/939670/248 "2021-04-20T16:16:16Z")
That’s not terribly uncommon even with non-royals. ---
**Author:** ![slash2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@slash2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slash2k)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2021, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-philip-has-died/939670/249 "2021-04-20T16:18:39Z")
What’s the temperature in the Royal Vault? A body stored in a sealed coffin in cool conditions does not necessarily decay all that quickly; there are [examples](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/03/fully-dressed-and-preserved-350-year-old-corpse-of-french-noblewoman-found) of [fairly well-preserved](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Bees_Man) bodies [being found](https://nypost.com/2018/09/29/secret-identity-of-150-year-old-body-found-in-nyc-revealed/) much [later](https://www.ktvu.com/news/preserved-child-found-in-glass-coffin-under-san-francisco-home-idd). ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2021, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-philip-has-died/939670/250 "2021-04-20T17:20:58Z")
that visual did make me laugh. there are people who want to be in the same coffin. usually the one who passes first is cremated and placed in with the second. there are many varieties of this. one could be plopping… ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2021, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-philip-has-died/939670/251 "2021-04-20T18:53:29Z")
> [@slash2k](#): > > …A body stored in a sealed coffin in cool conditions does not necessarily decay all that quickly; there are [examples](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/03/fully-dressed-and-preserved-350-year-old-corpse-of-french-noblewoman-found) of [fairly well-preserved](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Bees_Man) bodies [being found](https://nypost.com/2018/09/29/secret-identity-of-150-year-old-body-found-in-nyc-revealed/) much [later](https://www.ktvu.com/news/preserved-child-found-in-glass-coffin-under-san-francisco-home-idd). And then there’s Otzi, [Ötzi - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%96tzi) ; the Inca mummy, [Inca Child Sacrifice Victims Were Drugged](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/130729-inca-mummy-maiden-sacrifice-coca-alcohol-drug-mountain-andes-children) ; and Col. William Shy: [The “Murder” at Shy Mansion: Embalming in the Civil War — Civil Discourse](http://www.civildiscourse-historyblog.com/blog/2015/3/20/the-murder-at-shy-mansion-embalming-in-the-civil-war) ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2021, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-philip-has-died/939670/252 "2021-04-20T20:26:49Z")
Sometimes archaeologists work in old neglected church vaults where old lead lined coffins have to be removed to make room for repairs. I have heard terrible terrible pub clearing conversations about the liquids that ooze or even run… This is unlikely to occur in a well run crypt however and not after only a few years. ---
**Author:** ![APB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2021, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-philip-has-died/939670/253 "2021-04-20T20:59:21Z")
George VI’s coffin wasn’t transferred to the vault beneath his Memorial Chapel until seventeen years after his death, because it was only then that the Chapel was completed. This is not like the Pudridero of the Spanish Royal Family in the Escorial, where the bodies of the Kings and Queens are left until they have been reduced only to bones before they are interred in the Panteón de Reyes. [Morbid Monday: The Royal Rotting Room - Atlas Obscura](https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/morbid-monday-the-royal-rotting-room) ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2021, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-philip-has-died/939670/254 "2021-04-21T00:16:54Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > I suppose the banners on the ground could symbolize whatever it represents literally prostrating face-to-ground, as once people would to royalty? From the description here, it was just a standard salute: staff horizontal, flag carefully draping the ground because it’s not a small flag. According to legend, the American flag never salutes because (1) an Irish-American Olympian did not wish to salute the English King, (2) the American Olympians did not wish to salute Hitler, and (3), after that, it just became a general rule. There is also a ‘broken flag’, with the finial grounded. I’ve only ever seen that in paintings. I’ve read a description, but know of no ceremony where it would be correct protocol. I was at an ANZAC day ceremony last weekend (for reasons). That’s like Memorial Day. I was surprised to see that the flags were not lowered to the ‘salute’ position for the 1 minute silence. Possible reasons I’ve thought of (1) It was wet. (2) It may be reserved for the main ceremony (this weekend). (3) It may be reserved for people who handle flags for living. If the reason was (1), I thought correct protocol would have been to roll the flag around the staff so that it didn’t touch the ground, but maybe that’s reserved for situations where it’s important, and the people involved are expected to have good flag-handling skills. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2021, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-philip-has-died/939670/255 "2021-04-21T00:40:02Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > The Royal Standard is never at half mast, because the monarch is always living. Different in Australia: > On the death of the Sovereign (King or Queen) – the flag should be flown from the time of announcement of the death up to and including the funeral. With the exception: > On the day the accession of the new Sovereign is proclaimed, it is customary to raise the flag to the top of the mast from 11 a.m. until the usual time for close of business. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2021, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-philip-has-died/939670/256 "2021-04-21T02:21:25Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > I’m pretty sure the reverence for particular flags is _much_ greater in the British military tradition. Any flag paraded in a military ceremony in the USA is just a stock item (AFAIK). It’s not specially designed and embroidered, consecrated, handed over by a VIP in a big ceremony, held for years by a military unit as its very special important object to be guarded and revered, or laid up in a church to be adored forever when it’s retired. Huh. Off-topic, I think that explains something that always puzzled me a bit in Lord of the Rings. ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2021, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-philip-has-died/939670/257 "2021-04-21T04:30:56Z")
In case there’s any doubt, we’re talking about this: Prince Philip’s funeral: [![](https://i.ibb.co/dfs3ys4/shot0005a.jpg) ](https://i.ibb.co/dfs3ys4/shot0005a.jpg) Trooping the Colour ceremony, Royal Salute: [![](https://i.ibb.co/MCvQxHD/shot0009.jpg) ](https://i.ibb.co/MCvQxHD/shot0009.jpg) (The four columns of gold scrolls on the Guards’ flag have the names of the most important battles or wars the regiment has fought in.) ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2021, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-philip-has-died/939670/258 "2021-04-21T04:39:51Z")
Ok, that’s not in the Aus protocol I know. It doesn’t surprise me – I’ve seen it in paintings and I think it looks right for a funeral – but it’s not in any protocol I’m familiar with. AFAIK, in Aus the flag may ‘salute’ at memorial occasions, but that’s only bringing the staff to horizontal, holding it, then letting it slowly raise. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2021, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-philip-has-died/939670/259 "2021-04-21T05:09:32Z")
It’s used for a royal salute [in Australia](https://www.contactairlandandsea.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/cossie_duntroon_queens_colour2.jpg) and probably in all of the Commonwealth realms that have armed forces (and has probably been retained as a presidential salute in some Commonwealth republics too). It would only be for a member of the royal family, the Governor-General, a state governor, or a foreign head of state. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2021, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-philip-has-died/939670/260 "2021-04-21T06:00:49Z")
Hmph. > “Unlike other devices, the Army Banner is not lowered on the Royal Salute, unless for the Sovereign. The Army Banner is also not lowered when on parade with the Sovereign’s Banner(s) unless for the Sovereign. The Army Banner is to be lowered during the Royal Salute when the Governor-General of Australia is in attendance on all other occasions. If lowered for the Royal Salute, the Banner is not draped across the ground. The normal drill for ‘wet and muddy conditions’ is to be used at all times” So it’s the Australian half-assed version of dropping the finial to the ground. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-philip-has-died/939670.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-philip-has-died/939670.md?page=14)