Prince Harry, Meghan Markle mourn Prince Philip in brief initial statement

Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, issued a brief statement acknowledging the death of his grandfather Prince Philip on Friday amid a broader outpouring of grief for the Duke of Edinburgh.

The pair, who now live in California, mourned Philip’s passing in a short memorial on the homepage of their Archewell Foundation website.

“In loving memory of His Royal Highness, the Duke of Edinburgh,” the statement read, along with the years of his birth and death.

“Thank you for your service … You will be greatly missed.”

The couple did not immediately appear on video or issue any longer statements about Philip within the first several hours of his death. Current and former world leaders released many of their own lengthy tributes.

Prince William and Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, also did not issue any specific statements to mourn William’s grandfather over that time. Instead, their Twitter account retweeted statements from the Royal Family.

Queen Elizabeth II‘s husband died at the age of 99, Buckingham Palace announced on Friday. His death came after he was released from a weeks-long stay in the hospital.

His hospitalization in early March coincided with Harry and Markle’s first high-profile interview following their departure from the Royal Family. The couple sat down with Oprah Winfrey and spoke at length about their struggles with the “toxic” British media and the pressures of life as working Royal Family members.

They also alleged that someone within the Royal Family had raised questions about the potential colour of Archie’s skin before he was born.

Oprah later conveyed on their behalf that the Queen and Prince Philip were not part of that skin-colour discussion.

The Queen is expected to enter an eight-day mourning period leading up to Philip’s funeral later this month. Full plans for the event were not immediately released.

Harry and Markle did not share their own potential travel plans for such an event.