Commonwealth leaders pay tribute to the Duke of Edinburgh

Scott Morrison, the prime minister of Australia, attended a service at St Andrew’s Cathedral in Sydney on Sunday which included prayers for the Royal Family and a naval hymn in honour of the Duke of Edinburgh.

"On Prince Philip's many visits to Australia, we have come to know him as a man of compassion and service, personal warmth, intellectual curiosity and generous spirit," the Rev Kanishka de Silva Raffel, the dean of St Andrew’s, said at the service.

Flags were lowered to half-mast at Parliament House in Canberra, where a 41-gun salute took place on Saturday, and on Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Across the Tasman Sea in New Zealand, a ceremony took place on Sunday in the country's capital, Wellington, featuring a 41-gun salute.

Jacinda Ardern, the Prime Minister, said the Prince had a strong link with the country’s military institutions as well as civilian organisations.

“It is fair to say, it will be a hugely significant loss for New Zealand, and those organisations that were supported by Prince Philip,” said the prime minister, adding that the Duke visited New Zealand 10 times.

She said a memorial would be held in New Zealand after his funeral in Britain on Saturday.

In Canada, the former premier, Jean Chrétien, whose wife died in September after 63 years of marriage, reflected on the task faced by the Queen.

“She is a very courageous and intelligent and dedicated person,” he said in an interview on The West Block, a political talk show.

“So she would face the storm and it’s going to be difficult. I went through that — to lose your partner. For me, it was 63 years of marriage and five years of friendship.

"And this is even longer for the queen and Prince Philip. But, you know, with the help of our family and so on, she would have faced the reality.

“She would do it with grace and courage and discretion.”

Mr Chrétien said he planned to write to the Queen to share his condolences.

“I will tell her that I had great respect for her husband, who was a great public servant,” he said.

“He served all his life. He started in the army when he was a kid and he stayed in public for all his life."

Canada's major television networks are expected to broadcast coverage of Prince Philip's funeral.

The eight-day mourning period officially began in Canada on Friday with the lowering of the flag on the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, and then Canadian flags across the country and around the world. That will end at sunset on the day of the funeral.

The bell in the Peace Tower, the central building at parliament, tolled 99 times, one for each year of Prince Philip’s life.

Heritage Canada has set up an online book of condolences for Canadians to sign.

Meanwhile in Corfu floral tributes were left outside the house where the prince was born.

In the United States, members of the expatriate community said they would observe three minutes silence to mark the funeral or raise a Union Jack in tribute.

British diplomatic missions are directing people to books of condolence to register their sympathy.