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Prince Philip was renowned for speaking his mind - often explained as his attempt to lighten the mood - and that outspoken nature did, at times, lead to controversy.

But a former press secretary to the Queen says "very few people" took offence to remarks made by the Duke of Edinburgh.

Speaking to Sky News, Charles Anson says: "The occasional jokes were often very much enjoyed by those to whom he was speaking, I think he rarely offended all that much.

"I think Prince Philip's way of breaking the ice, of making a joke including people in a conversation, he was marvellous in that respect.

"It was Prince Philip who introduced an informal remark and sometimes a joke, but actually when you look back on it very few people took offence, most people could see his sense of humour and knew he was well meaning.

"He had all that energy and marvellous ideas, and he made great contribution and lightening the atmosphere whilst remaining a very serious figure."

Here are some of Prince Philip's most famous quips.

There will be a military escort at the funeral service of the Duke of Edinburgh at Windsor Castle.

General Sir Patrick Sanders, Commander of Strategic Command, has spoken about the "huge honour" and "significant responsibility" of marching in front of Prince Philip's coffin as part of the funeral procession.

He says of the service this afternoon: "It is very much his funeral, designed by him."

You can watch more above.

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There are several elements to this afternoon's funeral that are unique to the occasion.

For all but the most seasoned of royal watchers, they may need some further explanation.

They include the Land Rover which will be used to carry Prince Philip's coffin. He helped design the vehicle himself over a 16-year period, making the final adjustments in 2019.

While many members of the Royal Family will walk in that procession behind the Land Rover, the Queen will travel in a quite different vehicle - the Bentley State Limousine.

The vehicle was presented to Her Majesty in 2002 to mark her Golden Jubilee.

Its rear-door design allows the Queen to stand up straight before leaving the vehicle. She and the duke offered "continual" input during the two years it took to build the car, according to Bentley.

Other features we will see are the nine cushions which will be placed on the altar of St George's Chapel, displaying a selection of the medals and other decorations the duke received. He chose these himself as he planned his funeral in detail.

Read more about these details on the funeral here.

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The Duke of Edinburgh was born in the Greek island of Corfu on 10 June 1921.

He was the only son of Prince Andrew of Greece and Princess Alice of Battenberg.

Prince Philip began his education in France at the MacJannet American school in St-Cloud.

At the age of seven he went to live with his Mountbatten relatives in England, where he attended a prep school in Surrey.

Later he attended Gordonstoun boarding school, founded by educational pioneer Kurt Hahn in northern Scotland, where he excelled at sport.

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You can see more photographs documenting the Duke of Edinburgh's life here.

The Duke of Edinburgh had an enduring connection with Scotland and its people.

His attendance at Gordonstoun school in Moray marked the beginning of an association with the country that would span almost 90 years.

The title of Duke of Edinburgh was bestowed upon him on the eve of his wedding to Princess Elizabeth in 1947.

Through the decades, summers spent at the Balmoral estate on Royal Deeside offered the duke precious time to spend with his family.

Read more on Prince Philip's close association with Scotland here.

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The Countess Mountbatten of Burma, who will be attending this afternoon's funeral, was one of the duke's closest friends and his partner in his beloved - if rather hazardous - sport of carriage driving.

The 68-year-old is the wife of Earl Mountbatten, Norton Knatchbull - who is the grandson of Prince Philip's uncle the 1st Earl Mountbatten, who was killed by the IRA in 1979. Prince Philip first started teaching her the sport in the 1990s and she remained a close friend of his for many years.

They were often pictured together at the Royal Windsor Horse Show, sometimes riding mini-motorcycles around the carriage driving course.

She now runs the Broadlands estate in Hampshire, former home of Earl Mountbatten, where the Queen and Prince Philip spent their honeymoon.

One of the country's top military commanders, who was present at the rehearsal for the Duke of Edinburgh's funeral on Friday, says it was "difficult to stifle a tear" when he heard the hymns that will be played at the ceremony.

General Sir Patrick Sanders, Commander of Strategic Command, who has met the duke several times, tells BBC Breakfast: "I was standing at the rehearsal yesterday and you hear those first notes of Nimrod, and the hairs go up at the back of your neck, you get a lump in your throat.

"It's difficult to stifle a tear as you think about the duke and the impact on the royal family and the whole nation - and you stand there a little stiffer, a little straighter, determined to do right by him."

Remembering Prince Philip, he says: "You couldn't have a conversation with the duke without seeing a twinkle in his eye.

"The thing that always struck me about him was he was focused entirely on the person in front of him, and he was able to engage with people as individuals - it didn't matter what your rank was, it didn't matter what your station in life was, it didn't matter what your experience was - he was interested in you, really interested, and he treated everybody the same.

"Each of those exchanges invariably involved some kind of banter, some kind of personal anecdote, some kind of quip, and you could always hear laughter wherever the duke was."

Poet Laureate Simon Armitage has written an elegy to Prince Philip to mark his funeral today.

The Patriarchs - An Elegy is the first royal poem he has written since being appointed in 2019.

Armitage said he did not want to "presume to write a personal poem about somebody I didn't know", the Guardian reported, and instead "took cues from various interesting facts about his life, and thinking of him as the last in that generation of patriarchs".

It starts with the snow on the day Prince Philip died, the "unseasonal singular flakes", and notes that to "eulogise one man is to pipe up / for a whole generation".

They were, it continues, "that crew whose survival / was always the stuff of minor miracle, / who came ashore in orange-crate coracles / fought ingenious wars, finagled triumphs at sea / with flaming decoy boats, and side-stepped torpedoes."

The work describes those men of Philip's generation as "great-grandfathers from birth" who were "husbands to duty".

It continues: "Last of the great avuncular magicians / they kept their best tricks for the grand finale: / Disproving Immortality and Disappearing Entirely."

You can read the poem in full here , externaland it is read by the poet below.

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Prince Harry's return to the UK for Prince Philip's funeral is his first visit since he and his wife Meghan stepped back from royal duties last March.

The Duchess of Sussex remains at their home in California as she is pregnant and has been advised by her doctor not to travel.

Like other international arrivals, Prince Harry has had to follow the government's coronavirus travel rules.

He has not had to self-isolate in a quarantine hotel, as the US is not currently on the government's "red list" of countries, external, requiring extra measures.

A spokesman for the Duke of Sussex says he has been staying at Frogmore Cottage in Windsor - his former residence - and observing coronavirus regulations.

Read more on this story here.

Admiral Tony Radakin tells BBC Radio 4’s Today programme the Royal Air Force, the British Army and the Royal Navy will all reflect the affection, the dignity and respect held by, and for, Prince Philip.

The First Sea Lord praises the duke’s “very distinguished naval career” and adds: “His degree of accomplishment in everything that he put his mind to was remarkable. You see that with his military connections, but I think you also see that in all his other facets of life.”

Admiral Radakin says the duke will be remembered for “his manner, his sense of humour, his understanding of the men and women that serve in the armed forces, the willingness to have some banter, the willingness to put people at ease during a royal visit, and the willingness to ask those in charge very tough questions.”

The Queen has shared one of her favourite photographs of herself with her husband of 73 years relaxing on the grass at a Scottish beauty spot.

In the photograph, taken on a sunny day at the Coyles of Muick near the Aberdeenshire town of Ballater, the Queen and Prince Philip look completely at ease and are smiling warmly at their daughter-in-law Sophie the Countess of Wessex who took the photograph in 2003.

Image source, COUNTESS OF WESSEX VIA PRESS ASSOCIATION

Meanwhile, Mike Tindall, who is married to the Queen and Prince Philip's granddaughter Zara Tindall, has paid tribute to the Duke of Edinburgh as a "devoted family man who we will forever miss but always love".

The former England rugby player posted a picture on Instagram from the Royal Family's personal photo albums of the duke with the Tindalls' eldest daughter Mia.

Image source, DUCHESS OF CAMBRIDGE

Image source, KENSINGTON PALACE

Image source, Reuters

Lord Chartres, a former bishop of London, has said the Queen will be under "extraordinary pressure" during the Duke of Edinburgh's funeral as she mourns her husband in public.

The retired Church of England bishop, understood to have been close to Philip, tells BBC Radio 4's Today: "I hope that today people really will be sending up a prayer for the Queen and for the other members of the royal family because having to grieve in public is an extraordinary pressure and something that most of us would not really want to do.

"But it is part of their life and their world, and I hope today, and I'm sure, that people won't forget the personal dimension in the formal ceremonies."

Lord Chartres says the duke had a "very practical" Christian faith, adding: "I always remember preaching on occasions at which he was principal actor, that the instruction would always come down: 'No more than four minutes'.

"He was at home with broad church, high church and low church, but what he really liked was short church, and I think that no-one was left in no doubt about that."

The peer describes Philip as a "very questioning, curious and deeply committed person".

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Sports including football, rugby, Formula 1 and horseracing have all adjusted their schedules on Saturday as a mark of respect.

In the Premier League, Wolverhampton Wanderers' home game against Sheffield United, which had been scheduled to kick off at 15:00, has been moved to 20:15.

The 32 fixtures set for 15:00 in the Championship, League One and League Two will take place at either 12:30 or 17:30.

The National League's 15:00 kick-offs are moving to 12:30.

However, the FA Cup semi-final between Chelsea and Manchester City at Wembley will remain at 17:30.

The Women's FA Cup fourth-round fixture between Manchester City Women and Aston Villa Women has been brought forward to 12:00.

BBC Sport has a full round-up of changes here.

And Heathrow Airport, which is six miles from Windsor, said no planes will land or take off for six minutes to coincide with the minute's silence at 15:00 BST, so the funeral will not be disturbed by planes heading to or from the airport.

Attending the funeral alongside the Queen and Prince Philip's children and grandchildren and their partners are some other mourners who were also close to the Duke of Edinburgh.

They are:

• Lady Sarah Chatto, the daughter of the Queen's sister Princess Margaret, and her husband Daniel Chatto
• The Earl of Snowdon - Princess Margaret's son
• The Duke of Gloucester, the Duke of Kent, and Princess Alexandra, all of whom are the Queen's first cousins
• Bernhard, Hereditary Prince of Baden;Prince Donatus, Landgrave of Hesse; and Prince Philipp of Hohenlohe-Langenburg- all of whom are German relatives of the duke
• Countess Mountbatten of Burma, a friend of the duke's and his partner in carriage-driving

Read more about those attending the funeral here.

Buckingham Palace said the Queen faced "some very difficult" decisions as she selected the 30 mourners permitted to attend the funeral under coronavirus rules, from the original 800-strong congregation planned.

The bulk of the guests are the Queen and Prince Philip's children and grandchildren and their partners, with the palace saying: "At its heart it is still a family event".

Among the 30 are:

• The Queen, who will lead the mourners
• The Prince of Wales with his wife the Duchess of Cornwall
• The Princess Royal with her husband Timothy Laurence
• The Duke of York
• The Earl of Wessex with his wife the Countess of Wessex and their children Viscount Severn and Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor
• The Duke of Cambridge and his wife the Duchess of Cambridge
• The Duke of Sussex
• Peter Phillips, the eldest son of Princess Anne
• Zara Tindall, daughter of Princess Anne, and her husband Mike Tindall
• Princess Beatrice, the elder daughter of the Duke of York, and her husband Edoardo Mapelli
• Princess Eugenie, the younger daughter of the Duke of York, and her husband Jack Brooksbank

Read more about those attending the funeral here.

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In a special programme on BBC Sounds people from across the UK and beyond remember their meetings with The Duke of Edinburgh.

Stories range from those linked to his work with many charities, his support for young people through the Duke of Edinburgh Awards scheme and his wit and sense of humour.

Among those reflecting on those meetings are Falklands War veteran Simon Weston, Ex Cabinet Minister Lord Paul Boateng and former Buckingham Palace Press Secretary Dickie Arbiter.

Ruth Sims talks about introducing the Duke to children living with HIV and Aids in Uganda, we find out how Prince Philip helped to popularise a new type of tea grown in Cornwall and journalist and broadcaster Gyles Brandreth remembers the Duke's "hands on" approach to charity work when he first met him in the 1970s.

Jeff Edwards, who was one of the child survivors of the 1966 Aberfan disaster, recalls meeting Prince Philip and reflects on the close links between the Welsh town and the Duke.

Meanwhile former ITV News Royal correspondent Romilley Weeks remembers the moment she was surprised by the Prince on TV.

The Day I Met Prince Philip is a Made in Manchester Production for BBC Radio 5 Live.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has called on the British public to pray for the Queen in "what must be an anguished moment", as he prepares to deliver the blessing at the royal funeral for Prince Philip.

He says judging her mood by her external appearance should be avoided, as she will "behave with the extraordinary dignity, extraordinary courage that she always does".

He adds: "And at the same time she is saying farewell to someone to whom she was married for 73 years. I think that must be a very, very profound thing... in anybody's life."

Royal biographer Robert Hardman tells BBC Radio 4’s Today programme the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral is “reduced but I don’t think it is in any way diminished”.

It will be a service that “very much reflects the man”, he says.

"All the way through it are those echoes of his naval career that really shaped him”.

Hardman says the limit on the number in attendance could make the funeral “even more personal, even more dramatic if you like”.

The historian recalled a documentary he made with Prince Philip in which the duke was asked what his legacy might be.

Hardman says: “He sort of winced - he knew it was coming - he just [said] ‘I don’t want to talk about my legacy’. He actually used the word, he said, it’s indecent to talk about your legacy.

“He said ‘it’s not down to me to decide how I’m remembered, other people can decide that’. But he said what he really wanted to do is make sure that life can go on for those who follow behind.”

BBC One will be showing live coverage of the funeral within a special programme from 12:30 BST, presented by Huw Edwards and with Sophie Raworth and former Royal Marine JJ Chalmers reporting from Windsor.

The programme will also be broadcast on the BBC News Channel and iPlayer.

The funeral will also be covered from 14:00 BST to 16:10 BST on BBC Radio 4 and Radio 5 Live, BBC World Service English, BBC Radio Scotland and BBC Radio Ulster.

It will also be broadcast on BBC Radio Wales and BBC local radio with some variation in start times.

Huw Edwards will reflect on the events for BBC Two in a later programme at 20:10 BST. And of course we are covering it here on the news website - with live coverage for viewers in the UK and internationally.

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The public are being asked not to travel to or gather outside Windsor or other royal residences because of coronavirus restrictions - and urged not to attend any events associated with Prince Philip's funeral.

The government said, though, that it "understands that this is a difficult and sad time for many, and that members of the public will wish to pay their respects".

It has suggested instead that people could:

1. Participate in the national minute's silence at 15:00 BST
2. Sign the book of condolence at royal.uk/condolence, external
3. Watch coverage of the funeral on television.

Having said that, a large number of floral tributes have been laid outside Windsor and Buckingham Palace in London. A note with one of the bouquets left outside Buckingham Palace read: "HRH A True Gentleman. "Thank you for your devoted service to our country. We shall miss you."