Gordon's honours HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

The death of His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, husband of Her Majesty the Queen, Patron of Gordon’s School, will be marked at the school on Saturday at 18.00hrs.

Pipe Major Owen Carter will play a Lament outside the school Chapel in tribute, after the Royal Family has gathered for the funeral of His Royal Highness, in nearby Windsor.

To comply with COVID regulations, visitors will not be allowed on site but it will be live-streamed on the school Facebook page.

Flags at the school in West End, Surrey Heath have been flying at half mast since his death on Friday 9th April.

The Duke of Edinburgh visited the school on a number of occasions, and told students he “frequently” drove passed the site, saying: “…I have often seen boys in uniform outside.

"I am delighted to say that they have always been smartly dressed, and, as far as I could see, well behaved”.

He presented a new Colour to the school in July 1955.

Thirty years later, Her Majesty the Queen, along with the Duke of Edinburgh were guests at the school Speech Day in the Centenary year of Gordon Boys’ School in 1985.

The two Royals, together with HRH the Queen Mother were among those to generously donate to the school’s Centenary Appeal in 1985 which raised over its target of £300,000 to modernise the school’s buildings.

His Royal Highness Prince Philip wrote in his foreword to the book The Gordon Heritage: "There could be no better memorial to this remarkable man [General Gordon] than a school for the underprivileged, which has since evolved into a modern boarding school…."

Gordon’s is the National Memorial to General Gordon and was founded at the insistence of Queen Victoria, who wanted a fitting National Memorial to be created in his honour. In 1943 the school became Gordon Boys’ School with girls arriving in 1990 along with a name change to Gordon’s School.

Gordon’s Headmaster Andrew Moss said: "A lasting legacy to His Royal Highness is the vast numbers of students here and across the world, who learn new skills and carry out voluntary work through the Duke of Edinburgh’s Awards Scheme.

"It is fitting that this year record numbers have joined the scheme this year at Gordon’s with 128 enrolled for Bronze and 80 for Silver."