PRINCE Philip soldiered on through Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s wedding with a cracked rib – after falling in the bath days before the ceremony.
HOAR exclusively revealed that the Duke of Edinburgh was in pain – but cheerfully soldiered on for the nuptials in 2018.
Read our live blog for the very latest news on Prince Philip’s death…
Despite his agony, he walked unaided into Windsor Castle for the hour-long ceremony.
The royal – whose funeral will take place at the same chapel where his grandson was wed – will long be remembered for his courage and determination after his death yesterday.
It comes as:
- The Queen shares a poignant photo of Philip as she tells of her “deep sorrow”
- The Duke will NOT have a state funeral – and Brits are told to stay away due to Covid
- Harry wants ‘nothing more’ than to be with the Queen – but it’s not yet known if Meghan will fly back to the UK to join him
- Boris Johnson is among the leading figures to pay tribute to ‘extraordinary’ Prince Philip
- The Tower of London and Navy warships will lead a gun salute in honour of Prince Philip at noon today
Photographs taken on the big day show the Duke with what appeared to be a black eye.
The accident happened only days after he had thrown his crutches away following a hip op.
He was 96 at the time of his fall, but insisted on making it to the Royal Wedding without crutches just six weeks after the surgery.
But in the days after the ceremony, a Royal insider said despite sustaining the painful rib injury he refused even the aid of a stick on Meghan and Harry’s big day.
They told HOAR: “The Duke is not a fan of showering and prefers to bathe.
“But he’s a determined man and nothing was going to stop him attending.
“Nor would he take any kind of walking aid.”
The Duke was praised for his no-nonsense attitude as he smiled throughout the celebrations.
Doctor Carol Cooper said he took the British stiff upper lip to a “new level”.
She said: “I take my hat off to him. He is clearly a very resolute gentleman who will not stop doing what he needs to do.
“Fractured ribs tend to be quite painful. It’s very rare for a fractured rib not to cause pain – even a tiny fracture.
“Because your ribs move when you breathe, every breath you take can be painful.
“Painkillers are often not very effective but it is possible to get a local anaesthetic injected into the area to deaden the pain temporarily.”
Prince Philip had spent days walking up and down stairs to get himself fit for the wedding after his hip replacement.
Such was the speed of his recovery, he was even warned to slow it down.
Family biographer Penny Junor described his walk into the chapel as “completely heroic”.
She said at the time: “Given that he is 96 years old and the operation was just six weeks ago, I think that shows what an extraordinary man he is.
“That will have meant a huge amount to Prince Harry. He is enormously fond of his grandfather.”
But Prince Philip was said have been “distraught” after learning of all the allegations made in Meghan and Harry’s Oprah interview.
He was in hospital when the programme initially aired on March 8.
Royal expert Charlie Rae told talkRADIO: “Harry is one of the favourite grandchildren.
“Harry is very close to Philip and I think he is absolutely distraught that something like this has been allowed to happen.”
Meanwhile, the Queen is understood to have been at her husband’s bedside when he died at Windsor Castle yesterday.
The Duke of Edinburgh is believed to have spent his final days in “good form” reading and writing letters in the sun” weeks before his 100th birthday.
Despite officials at the Palace declined to “go into any specifics” about the Duke’s passing, it is understood that his condition worsened overnight on Thursday with insiders warning that he had become “gravely ill”.
However, any talk of whisking Prince Philip back to the hospital was reportedly dismissed by the Queen.
Royal sources said that the Prince insisted on looking after himself and refused to wear a hearing aid in the days before his death.
He reportedly chastised staff who put a wheelchair in his private rooms and insisted on dressing himself in recent months.
One aide told the Daily Mail he insisted on bending to the floor and picking up his dropped reading glasses, saying “I’ll do it” when a footman sprung forward.
And the Queen was said to be overheard saying he wouldn’t use his hearing aid, which “means we have to shout”.
