Prince Harry to succeed Prince Philip in one of his major roles

AOL.com Editors
Updated ·2 min read
Prince Harry to succeed Prince Philip in one of his major roles
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Prince Harry has an exciting new role!

According to Richard Palmer, the royal correspondent for the Daily Express in London, Harry will now be Captain General Royal Marines, an appointment that Queen Elizabeth has "approved."

SEE ALSO: Inside Princess Margaret's marriage to Antony Armstrong-Jones

"The Queen has approved the appointment of Prince Harry as Captain General Royal Marines," Palmer tweeted. "He succeeds the Duke of Edinburgh in the post."

Palmer added that today is Prince Philip's final day of duty as Captain General and that Harry was present at a gathering of high-ranking Marines officials on Tuesday.

Harry succeeding his grandfather in the role surely means a lot to the 33-year-old royal, who reportedly chose the date for his upcoming wedding to fiancée Meghan Markle mainly due to Philip's old age.

SEE ALSO: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have set a date for their wedding next year

"He didn't want to get married at the same place as his brother,” a royals expert told ET about the couple’s choice to hold the ceremony at St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, which is where the Queen and Prince Philip live. "He didn't want to have such a big royal wedding at Westminster Abbey -- it doesn't need to be as big as William's wedding. Harry really wanted to have something a little bit more intimate. The second reason is that he wanted something close to home for the Duke of Edinburgh and the Queen."

"In fact, one of the reasons that Prince Harry has wanted this wedding to happen quite quickly -- this is really whirlwind by royal standards -- is because his 96-year-old grandfather, the Duke of Edinburgh, is retired now and Prince Harry really wants him to be at his wedding,” the expert continued. "He's incredibly close to his grandfather and, being 96, Harry thought it was it was a great thing to [have] the wedding sooner rather than later, so his grandfather could be there, fit and healthy."

The Duke of Edinburgh announced his retirement from his official duties earlier this year.

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