Prince Philip steps out of retirement to make rare public engagement

Ceremony will be royal's first engagement in more than a year

The Duke of Edinburgh is to make a rare public appearance as he transfers his role as colonel-in-chief of The Rifles to the Duchess of Cornwall.

Prince Philip, who retired in 2017, will be nearly 100 miles apart from his daughter-in-law Camilla, as they both carry out ceremonies to mark the occasion.

Amid social distancing, the 99-year-old royal will be at Windsor Castle in Berkshire, where he has been in isolation with the Queen since the beginning of lockdown, while the duchess will be at Highgrove House in Gloucestershire.

During the Windsor ceremony on Wednesday, the assistant colonel commandant, Major General Tom Copinger-Symes, will offer the salute and thank Philip for his 67 years of support and service to The Rifles, and their forming and antecedent regiments.

The Buglers will then sound The Rifles Regimental Call, followed by the “No More Parades” call, to mark the duke’s final ceremony as colonel-in-chief.

Immediately afterwards, proceedings will move to Highgrove House where Camilla will be welcomed as the new colonel-in-chief by The Rifles' Colonel Commandant, General Sir Patrick Sanders.

The duke has been colonel-in-chief of The Rifles since its formation in 2007, but has served as colonel-in-chief of successive regiments, which now make up The Rifles, since 1953.

(Getty Images/Benjamin Wheeler)

The duchess was appointed Royal Colonel of 4th Battalion The Rifles in 2007.

The ceremony will be Philip's first engagement in more than a year.

Since retiring, Philip has spent most of his time living on the Sandringham Estate, the royal’s private home in Norfolk.

The royal was recently pictured with the Queen at Windsor to mark his 99th birthday in June.

It was the first public image of the duke since he was seen leaving a private hospital on Christmas Eve last year, following a four-night admission for an undisclosed but “pre-existing condition”.

Philip was also able to attend the wedding of his granddaughter, Princess Beatrice, to Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi which took place in Windsor on Friday 17th July.

He was last seen at a big event when he was a guest at Lady Gabriella Windsor's wedding in May 2019.