Princess Anne has thanked members of the public for their support following the death of her father Prince Philip, insisting he "leaves a legacy which can inspire us all".
Queen Elizabeth II's husband passed away on Friday, weeks after he was hospitalised for an infection and procedure for a pre-existing heart condition, and in a message posted on social media on Sunday, the only daughter of the monarch and the late Duke of Edinburgh celebrated her father for a "life well lived".
"You know it's going to happen but you are never really ready," Princess Anne shared of Philip's demise, aged 99.
"My father has been my teacher, my supporter and my critic. But mostly it is his example of a life well lived and service freely given that I most wanted to emulate."
"His ability to treat every person as an individual in their own right with their own skills comes through all the organisations with which he was involved," she continued. "I regard it as an honour and a privilege to have been asked to follow in his footsteps and it has been a pleasure to have kept him in touch with their activities.
"I know how much he meant to them, in the U.K., across the Commonwealth and in the wider world."
Princess Anne went on to express the royal family's gratitude for the outpouring of love and support from the general public.
"I would like to emphasise how much the family appreciate the messages and memories of so many people whose lives he also touched," she added. "We will miss him but he leaves a legacy which can inspire us all."
Princess Anne's comments emerge after her brother Prince Charles honoured their "dear Papa" and hailed him for "giving the most remarkable, devoted service to the Queen, to my family and the country, and also to home".
Their younger siblings, Princes Andrew and Edward, also broke their silence about Philip's death on Sunday as they left a church service in Windsor, England, where Andrew said the Queen had described her husband's loss as "having left a huge void in her life".
"We've lost, almost, the grandfather of the nation," he said. "And I feel very sorry and supportive of my mother, who's feeling it probably more than everybody else."
And Edward admitted that despite Philip's ill health in his final months, his death was still a "dreadful shock", although the Queen, 94, was "bearing up".
A funeral for Prince Philip is set to be held on 17 April at St. George's Chapel in the grounds of Windsor Castle.
His grandson, Prince Harry, has returned to the U.K. from his home in Los Angeles to attend the private service, although his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, will not be joining the royal family as she is currently expecting the couple's second child.
