A Welwyn Garden City mother has expressed her pride over her son's involvement with Prince Philip's funeral last weekend.

Sharon Harper's son Daniel Lewis, a Senior Bugle Major of the Rifles, led the guard of honour for the Rifles Band contingent at the Duke of Edinburgh's funeral on Saturday, April 17.

His grandfather Charles Brunt was also extremely proud of him, having served in the RAF himself.

Daniel joined the army at the age of 16 after leaving Monks Walk School. His mother said he wanted to be a part of the army since he was seven and that 'everything else was pointless' for him.

Now 38, having served in Bosnia, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and more, Daniel had the honour of leading the Rifles Band from Windsor Castle to St Georges Chapel at the funeral.

Welwyn Hatfield Times: The Duke of Edinburgh's coffin, covered with his Personal Standard, being carried to the chapel entrance at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, Berkshire.The Duke of Edinburgh's coffin, covered with his Personal Standard, being carried to the chapel entrance at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, Berkshire. (Image: Hannah McKay/PA Wire/PA Images)

"I thought 'what my little boy?', I was like 'yeah of course you are' kind of in disbelief, " Sharon said.

"He had a lot of air play. I was quite surprised at the amount of time he had on the screen."

The Duke of Edinburgh was the Colonel in Chief for the Rifles from their formation in 2007 until his retirement in 2020.

Daniel's whole family were watching the event, his young nephew was also very excited having recently asked for a soldier's uniform for his birthday so he could be like his uncle.

"It's incredible that out of something so sad comes this, it brought our family very close on the day," added Sharon.

"They [the soldiers] got into a coach afterwards, they all felt good that they had done the prince proud. Because he didn't know what was seen on TV, we were able to send over the clips that had been recorded.

"He was just pleased that they all looked and behaved so well that he was so proud to be part of this really historic occasion."

Welwyn Hatfield Times: The Duke of Edinburgh's coffin, covered with his Personal Standard, being carried to the chapel entrance at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, Berkshire.The Duke of Edinburgh's coffin, covered with his Personal Standard, being carried to the chapel entrance at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, Berkshire. (Image: Justin Tallis/PA Wire/PA Images)

Talking about her experience of having a son in the army Sharon said: "When he was in Afghanistan, literally every time you heard something on the TV you would hold your breath until you heard 'the family has been notified'.

"Then you would let your breath go and you think, 'but that's somebody else's son'.

"For me personally it has it's very low lows and it's very high highs, like on Saturday that was a real high for the family."