Boris Johnson will watch the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral on television from his country residence of Chequers, Downing Street said.

The Prime Minister will not attend the service in Windsor on Saturday to allow for the attendance of as many family members as possible amid limits on the number of mourners due to the pandemic.

He was understood to have been expected to attend the funeral by the royals, but offered to step aside with the number of guests allowed limited to 30.

A No 10 spokesman said the Prime Minister will watch the proceedings on television from the Buckingham country retreat, where he will also observe the national minute’s silence at 3pm.

Philip’s funeral will be profoundly different to services held for royal family members before him, with coronavirus restrictions to have a huge impact on arrangements.

Buckingham Palace has confirmed the Queen, like all the 30 guests invited to the service, will wear a face mask during the funeral which will last 50 minutes.

The Prime Minister paid tribute to the duke’s “amazingly distinguished” career in the navy on Thursday, during a visit to the Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth.

Mr Johnson said his thoughts were once more with the Queen whilst at the college, which is where the duke was a cadet and where the royal couple had their first publicised meeting in 1939.

In commemoration of the duke, Mr Johnson attended a passing out parade at the Devon college, where he offered his congratulations to naval cadets as they became officers.