Prince Andrew was heckled by a protester today as he followed the Queen’s coffin through Edinburgh in his suit after being banned from wearing his military uniform.
A young man was filmed shouting ‘Andrew, you’re a sick old man’ as the disgraced Duke of York, 62, passed behind his mother’s hearse before the protester was bundled onto the floor by an onlooker and a policeman.
A short scuffle ensued, before the officer led him away as he shouted ‘disgusting’ and ‘I’ve done nothing wrong’ while in the background people shouted ‘God save the King’.
Andrew, a Falklands War veteran who exiled from public life amid the fallout from his role in the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, was not allowed to wear military dress for today’s occasion and instead wore a morning suit.
Prince Harry is ‘banned’ from wearing military uniform at final vigil for The Queen at Westminster Hall but Prince Andrew is allowed to ‘as special mark of respect’
King Charles III’s son Prince Harry has been banned from wearing military uniform if he attends the final vigil for Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster Hall – but the monarch’s shamed younger brother Prince Andrew will be allowed to don his Armed Forces outfit ‘as a special mark of respect’ for their late mother, it has been claimed today.
Royal sources have said the disgraced Duke of York – a Falklands War veteran who exiled from public life amid the fallout from his role in the Jeffrey Epstein scandal – will be entitled to wear military colours if he attends the ceremonial event on Wednesday.
However, Meghan Markle’s friend and preferred journalist Omid Scobie claimed that the Duke of Sussex – who has also seen military action by serving two tours of Afghanistan – has been banned from wearing his uniform at all ceremonial events during mourning for Her Majesty.
The King described Westminster Hall as a ‘great hall’ which holds ‘reminders of medieval predecessors of the office to which I have been called’ during a speech given to MPs and peers in Parliament.
Charles’s address is the latest speech to take place in the hall, a location which has been used to mark momentous moments in British history.
It dates back more than 900 years and has witnessed the trials of Guy Fawkes and King Charles I, and the lying in state of William Gladstone, Sir Winston Churchill, King George VI and his wife, the Queen Mother.
Westminster Hall was built in 1097 under William II (Rufus), the son of William the Conqueror, and was completed two years later.
According to the UK Parliament website, the hall was created to impress William II’s new subjects with his power and the majesty of his authority.
It holds the title of Europe’s largest unsupported medieval roof and, despite a fire which destroyed the original Palace of Westminster and the dropping of a dozen German bombs in 1941, the hall still stands as a proud reminder of British history.
It measures 240ft long, 68ft wide and 92ft high. The roof was originally supported by two rows of pillars but in 1399 Richard II wanted to make the hall more impressive by making it unsupported.
It was a challenge met by carpenter Hugh Herland and architect Henry Yevele by building huge hammer-shaped oak beams and strengthening the walls.
In the 14th century the hall became a centre of London life, housing the law courts and selling a host of legal paraphernalia including wigs, pens and books.
