Buckingham Palace Drama Unfolds Amid Queen Elizabeth Funeral Prep

Though Prince Andrew and Prince Harry will not be wearing traditional military regalia for the mourning events since they are no longer senior working royals, an exception is being made once for Prince Andrew that has raised some eyebrows.

Bomb sniffing dogs were spotted outside Buckingham Palace Tuesday as part of a massive security operation for Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral. 

Former Scotland Yard counter terrorism expert Damian Crilly said the main threat comes from a terrorist using a vehicle as a weapon.  

“They are the ones very difficult to plan against because they come in under the radar; there's not a lot of planning involved in carrying out the attack,” he told Inside Edition.  

There have already been disturbing breaches of security, the most serious being when a man ran in front of King Charles III’s car.  

“The problem you have is that people over here are grieving for the loss of their Queen and there's a certain amount of accessibility has to be allowed,” Crilly said. “That’s a fine line to have to deal with.” 

Most of the 150 heads of state will be driven to the funeral in a special bus. But President Biden is being allowed to bring his armored SUV nicknamed “the Beast.”  

The queen's coffin made its final journey to London Tuesday, where hundreds of thousands are expected to file past her coffin, many of whom will wait up to 30 hours to do so. An eerie dress rehearsal was held late Monday, with a coffin draped in black. 

And there's tension behind the palace walls. 

Though the queen’s son Prince Andrew and grandson Prince Harry will not be wearing traditional military regalia for the mourning events since they are no longer senior working royals, an exception is being made once for Prince Andrew that has raised some eyebrows.  

Prince Andrew will be allowed to wear his Navy uniform at a vigil for the queen, despite having been stripped of his rank, but Prince Harry, who served in the British Army for 10 years, rose to the rank of Captain and undertook two tours of Afghanistan, will not be allowed to wear his uniform.  

The Duke of Sussex instead "will wear a morning suit throughout events honoring his grandmother,” his spokesperson told People.  

"His decade of military service is not determined by the uniform he wears, and we respectfully ask that focus remain on the life and legacy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II," the spokesperson said.  

Prince Harry lost his three honorary military titles—Captain General of the Royal Marines, Honorary Air Commandant of RAF Honington and Commodore-in-Chief, Small Ships and Diving, Royal Naval Command—after he and his wife, Meghan the Duchess of Sussex, stepped down as senior members of the royal family in March 2020. 

Prince Andrew, who served as a helicopter pilot in the Falklands War in 1982 as part of his 22 years in the Royal Navy, was stripped of his military titles and royal patronages in January after he was accused of sexual assault by Virginia Roberts Giuffre, a victim of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's former ring. He settled the sex assault case filed against him for an undisclosed sum. In doing so, he made no admission of guilt.  

Prince Andrew will be allowed to wear a military uniform at the final vigil for the queen as a sign of respect, authorities said. King Charles III, Prince William, Princess Anne and Prince Edward are expected to step out in traditional regalia for all mourning events.

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