Prince Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh, died on Friday, at the age of 99 years. He was Queen Victoria’s first male royal consort in the 1800s — and the longest-serving consort in British history.
“The death of her loving husband, His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, is announced with deep regret,” said the Royal Family Official website. “His Royal Highness died peacefully at Windsor Castle this morning. Additional announcements will be made in due time. The Royal Family joins its losses with people around the world. “
Prince Philip and Denmark were sneaky young officers when, after World War II, he courted Princess Elizabeth when he served with the Mediterranean and Pacific Royal Navy Fleets.
“It was spared the war to see the triumph, to be given the opportunity to rest and change myself, to be completely and unconditionally in love, to make all personal problems, and even the world’s difficulties look small and tiny,” he wrote Elizabeth in 1946.
By the time of their wedding in 1947, he had renounced his royal titles and maritime career, became a British citizen, and decided to bear the Windsor family name of his wife’s children.
These were considerable sacrifices, says Karina Urbach from the Historical Research Institute of the University of London. She says, “He must’ve regretted it a lot.” Of course, it is a very fortunate life, but it is also a very dull life. It also means that a man such as him, who is an alpha man and wants to lead him, who needs his own career to recognise himself, you know, does not do this. “
Philip later in life described himself as “the most accomplished plaque revealer in the world.”
Philip was born in Corfu, Greece, into the royal Greek family’s profoundly dysfunctional branch. His dad was known as a philander and a player. His mother was diagnosed with schizophrenia and admitted to a psychiatric institution. Young Philip grew up couch-surfing among royal family members in Europe.
“I was thinking vaguely, ‘What can I do?’,” he said to the BBC in 1995. “It’s hard to be stateless.”
Philip was considered a rebel and a modernizer in the early years. He snuggled at stuffy brokers and allowed cameras in Buckingham Palace behind the scenes.
But in the 1970s, Philip was commonly seen as a crocheted, corner figure who trailed his wife on royal walks, sending occasional and confirmed gaffes. During a visit, he named Beijing a “ghastly” place. Once, he asked a female cadet to work in a strip club. And in Papua New Guinea, he congratulated a British backpacker for not being eaten.
Matthew Glencross, a King’s College London historian, says these comments may have been deliberate. “The guy wasn’t a fool,” he says. “The man understood those things when he said. And I believe that he did it almost intentionally. He liked it somewhat, because it was the light side of a royal tour. “
She never let on whether it bothered Queen Elizabeth. Philip was her best friend and trustworthy and one of the last links to her life before the throne.
“He’s someone who doesn’t take compliments easily. But he was my power and stayed all these years very simply, “50 years after their marriage, she said. There were four children in the couple: Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward.
Historians claim that PHILIP, Queen Victoria’s great-grandchild, has always known that he has no constitutional position as a royal consort in British politics or public life. He did not cross the line.
But he spent several hours helping British institutions and was a committed environmental campaigner – a passion shared by his son Charles. The Duke of Edinburgh Award, which he created in 1956, recognises young people around the world’s achievements.
Philip declared his public withdrawal in 2017.
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