Britain's royal family said farewell to Prince Philip, family patriarch and Queen Elizabeth II's husband of 73 years, who died last week a few months short of his 100th birthday.

Ahead of the funeral, riders from the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery made their way up the Long Walk towards Windsor Castle, and military personnel and royal guards all in ceremonial dress took up their positions in Windsor's Quadrangle beneath a blue sky.

Rows of military marching musicians played pieces of music including, I Vow to Thee My Country and Jerusalem, after members of the royal family not in the procession departed for St. George’s Chapel.

Waiting for him in the ancient chapel was his wife Queen Elizabeth II, dressed all in black and wearing a matching mask against the pandemic.

The queen, 94, who has called her husband her "strength and stay," sat alone and at a remove from the other attendees maintaining social distancing in accordance with the country's Covid-19 rules.

When the ceremony was over, and after Philip's casket was lowered into the vault, the queen stood up, and walking slowly and left the chapel.

The Duke of Edinburgh — the longest-serving consort of any British monarch — was remembered for his "unwavering loyalty" to the queen, according to the order of service, which he helped to plan.

Philip lived a peripatetic youth after his father, Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark, was banished and his family fled Greece. Philip joined Britain's Royal Navy where he excelled, serving in World War II, and married the then-Princess Elizabeth.

After she became queen in 1952, he carved out a socially-unusual role for the times, supporting his wife, but always one step behind her — in public at least.

"There was no precedent. If I asked someone, ‘What do you expect me to do?’ they all looked blank. They had no idea," Philip told the BBC of his early days as the sovereign's husband.

Many will remember him for being an early advocate of British science and industry, and a champion for conservation and the environment.

His is not a state funeral, as Philip was not a monarch, but rather a ceremonial funeral akin to the burial of the Queen Mother in 2002.