Prince Harry's 'nonsense reason' for missing Philip service discussed by guests at Abbey

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Those who attended the Duke of Edinburgh's memorial service this morning were discussing Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's absence with the late royal's former protection officer describing their excuse for not attending as "nonsense".Richard Griffin, who was responsible for the safety of both the Queen and Prince Philip for 14 years, attended today's event but was disappointed not to see the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in attendance to pay their respects.

According to The Mirror, Harry has said he cannot return to the UK due to safety concerns, which have become the subject of his latest legal battle, this time against the Home Office.

Speaking to Sky News, Richard said: "William had a great training from [Prince Philip] and is going to learn all his examples for him."Fingers crossed, I just hope Harry gets some of these things into his mind."Asked about his decision not to attend, he said: "That was a big disappointment for everybody."He also said that members of the 1,800-strong congregation were discussing Harry's absence before the service began.He said: "Certainly around where I was they thought he should have been here."All this nonsense about he couldn't get protection, as far as I'm concerned that was a pathetic excuse, he should have been here to honour his grandfather."At the end of the day, if he was that worried about security he could have stuck with his brother and father who have got wonderful security.

He would have been more than safe."Richard worked for the royal family for over a decade and said today's service captured the Duke perfectly.Speaking about today's event, he said: "To see the Queen come in and sit with her family, that was wonderful.""It was very emotional.