Parliament is to be recalled a day early on Monday following the death of Prince Philip.
The Cabinet also held a meeting at 5pm today to pay tribute to the Duke of Edinburgh, who passed away peacefully at Windsor Castle this morning, aged 99.
The Commons had been due to restart on Tuesday 13th, but all MPs will now be recalled on Monday.
Proceedings will start from 2.30pm where MPs from across the political spectrum are expected to pay tribute.
The last time parliament was recalled for the death of a member of the royal family was in 2002, after the death of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.
The Speaker of the House, Lindsay Hoyle, tweeted: “This is obviously a very sad day for Her Majesty, the Royal Family and the whole country.
“Prince Philip gave his unwavering support to The Queen, both as husband and consort. Today, we pause to honour him and offer our sincerest thanks for his devout faithfulness to our country.”
Father of the House Sir Peter Bottomley and Harriet Harman, Mother of the House, both also tweeted tributes to the Duke of Edinburgh.
HRH had previously been admitted to hospital on 16 February where he remained for two weeks.
He was then transferred to St Bart’s hospital for treatment for an infection and heart condition after which he was discharged on 16 March in “good spirits” according to sources.
The Duke of Edinburgh married Princess Elizabeth in 1947, five years before she became Queen, and was the longest-serving royal consort in British history. He carried out more than 20,000 solo engagements.
A statement from Buckingham Palace said: “It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen has announced the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
“His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle.”
You can read the rest of SWL’s Prince Philip coverage here.
Featured image credit: UK Parliament via Flickr under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 license
