Queen's eight grandchildren will hold special vigil on Saturday night

William and Harry will stand at head and foot of Queen’s coffin in vigil on Saturday with ALL eight grandchildren – as Duke of Sussex wears military uniform at King Charles III’s request in latest reconciliation move

  • Prince of Wales will also wear military uniform during the special 15-minute vigil
  • The brothers’ respective wives, Kate and Meghan, will not attend the ceremony
  • Other relatives will be in Morning Coat and Dark Formal Dress with Decorations
  • The Queen’s funeral: All the latest Royal Family news and coverage

William and Harry will stand at the head and foot of the Queen’s coffin in a special vigil on Saturday night with all eight of the monarch’s grandchildren.

The 15-minute ceremony will see the Duke of Sussex wear military uniform – which he didn’t during Wednesday’s funeral procession from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall – at King Charles III’s request.

It is considered the latest reconciliation move between the King and his son, whose relationship has become strained since Harry quit as a working royal.

Spouses such as the Princess of Wales, Meghan Markle and Mike Tindall will not attend the vigil, where the other six grandchildren will be in Morning Coat and Dark Formal Dress with Decorations. 

The relatives will stand in quiet contemplation around their grandmother for a quarter of an hour as a mark of respect – something they were all keen to undertake, sources say. Their parents are doing the same this evening. 

The Prince of Wales will be flanked by Zara Tindall and Peter Philips; The Duke of Sussex by Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, with Lady Louise and James, Viscount Severn at the middle of the coffin.

William and Harry at the procession in central London on Wednesday. The Duke of Sussex will wear his military uniform at Saturday’s vigil 


Zara Tindall (left) and Peter Phillips (right) pay their respects after the service and procession for the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II


Princess Beatrice (left) and Eugenie (right) during Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin procession from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall


Lady Louise Windsor pays her respect in The Palace of Westminster during the procession for the Lying-in State of Queen Elizabeth II

Prince Harry has so far be unable to wear military uniform during any of his public appearances following the Queen’s death.

That is because, when he stepped back as a front line royal in the wake of Megxit, he was stripped of his military patrognages.

Prince Harry, who served in the British army for a decade including two tours of Afghanistan, has so far worn a morning suit with military medals to public events.

However Prince Andrew, who also stepped back frontline royal duties in the wake of the Jeffrey Epstein sex scandal, is set to be given special dispensation to wear his colours on Friday night, when the Queen’s four children will hold another vigil.

He will join King Charles, Princess Anne and Prince Edward in standing guard, having also done so at St Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh earlier this week. 

The exception was made for the Duke of York to wear uniform for the vigil at Westminster Hall as a ‘final mark of respect’ for his mother.

He is expected to wear the full military dress uniform of a Vice Admiral of the Navy – the only military rank that he still holds.

The decision to allow Prince Andrew to wear a military uniform, while maintain the Duke of Sussex’s ban, had led to criticism from some quarters, while the Duke of Sussex himself released a pointed statement addressing the issue, saying his decade of service was ‘not determined by the uniform he wears’.

Speculation mounted earlier this week that Harry would be allowed to wear his uniform, with royal sources claiming ‘common sense has prevailed’.

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