The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh have announced they will travel to Balmoral Castle for their summer break, as Prince Philip made a rare public appearance in a military ceremony.
The royal couple will move to their Aberdeenshire home in early August and will be complying with social distancing guidelines, Buckingham Palace confirmed.
Earlier today, the duke took part in a unique ceremony to hand over a military role to Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.
The 99-year-old prince was in high spirits at Windsor Castle and waved at photographers, as he transferred his role as colonel-in-chief of The Rifles to his daughter-in-law.
Philip made the appearance nearly 100 miles apart from Camilla as they both carried out ceremonies to mark the occasion.
The duchess accepted the honour during the second half of the ceremony at her Gloucestershire home of Highgrove.
During the ceremony at Windsor, Philip was thanked for his 67 years of support for The Rifles by Assistant Colonel Commandant, Major General Tom Copinger-Symes.
Four buglers from the Band and Bugles of The Rifles were standing to attention when the duke arrived on the steps of the Equerries' Entrance.
Philip has been closely associated with The Rifles for almost seven decades and its earlier regiments, and was appointed Colonel-in-Chief of The Wiltshire Regiment (Duke of Edinburgh's) in 1953.
The Queen's consort, who retired from public duties in 2017, was last seen at a big event when he was a guest at Lady Gabriella Windsor's wedding in May 2019.
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Wednesday's ceremony marks his first engagement in more than a year. In June 2019, he held an audience when he received General Sir Nicholas Carter who was relinquishing his appointment as Colonel Commandant of The Rifles.
In August 2017, he carried out his final official engagement as he retired from public duties.
Camilla was appointed Royal Colonel of 4th Battalion The Rifles in 2007 and will continue to hold this position.
She was addressed by The Rifles' Colonel Commandant, General Sir Patrick Sanders, and welcomed as the new colonel-in-chief.
The brief ceremony was concluded when the buglers sounded The Rifles Regimental Call and The Advance.
The duchess wore a Rifles brooch to mark the occasion and a bespoke bottle-green dress with black trim which was modelled on the Rifles' uniform.
The buttons of the dress also had bugles on them and are the same buttons as worn on the soldiers' tunics.
Speaking before the ceremony, General Sanders said: "We feel it's a bittersweet day because we're enormously proud of our association with the Duke of Edinburgh who has been the most amazing colonel-in-chief and we've really flourished under his tenure.
"But it's also really special to have the Duchess of Cornwall coming in because she has a long association with The Rifles.
"She has been absolutely inspiring and the support that she's given and the way that she sustained that through some quite difficult and bloody tours."
Analysis: 'The Duke was on his A-game'
By Rhiannon Mills, royal correspondent
It is three years since the Duke of Edinburgh announced he was stepping back from doing any public events, so the sight of Prince Philip doing an engagement at Windsor has come completely out of the blue.
Smiling and seeming very sprightly, he looked amazing for a man who turned 99 years old last month.
He was expected to just stand by the door of the castle to watch the ceremony, but instead he walked down the steps, taking time to talk to the buglers who had taken part.
One of them told me afterwards that the duke was "on his A-game", laughing with them and teasing one of them about their fitness levels.
Back in December, there were concerns for Prince Philip's health after he was admitted to hospital for treatment for a pre-existing medical condition.
But he has certainly looked well in the photographs we have seen of him in recent months, and he looked remarkably healthy today.
The Duke of Edinburgh may have stepped back from his military career in 1952 when his wife became Queen, but as consort he has remained a dedicated supporter of the armed forces.
Clearly, he felt his final parade as colonel-in-chief of the rifles was worth temporarily coming out of retirement for - even at the age of 99.
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2020-07-22 14:53:19Z
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