BEVERLY HILLS, April 09, (THEWILL) – Prince Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II of England, has died at the age of 99, Buckingham Palace has announced.
He was aged 99 and had been married to the Queen for 74 years.
They had four children: Charles, Prince of Wales (born in 1948), Princess Anne (1950), Prince Andrew (1960) and Prince Edward (1964).
Elizabeth was the sovereign, but in family matters it was Philip who was viewed as the head of the family.
The palace said in a statement on Friday, “It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen announces the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
“His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle. Further announcements will be made in due course. The Royal Family joins with people around the world in mourning his loss.”
Philippos Schleswig-Holstein Sonderburg-Glucksburg was born on a dining room table on the Greek island of Corfu on June 10, 1921, the fifth child and only son of Prince Andrew of Greece.
His parents went into exile when he was 18 months old. They sailed from Corfu with the little boy sleeping in a cot made hurriedly from orange boxes.
Philip had British and German blood through his mother, a great grand-daughter of Queen Victoria.
She was born Princess Alice of Battenberg and became a nun after drifting apart from her husband, who died virtually penniless in 1944.
Philip lived his early life and troubled childhood on the move around Europe.
He was educated at Gordonstoun, where his son, Prince Charles, was later an unwilling pupil, and became a naturalised British citizen, looking and sounding every bit the English gentleman.
But to his detractors he remained “Phil the Greek.”
Philip joined the Royal Naval College at Dartmouth as a cadet in 1939. He served in warships during World War Two, was mentioned in dispatches, took part in the Allied landings in Sicily and was in Tokyo Bay when Japan surrendered in 1945.
He and Elizabeth first met at the wedding of Philip’s cousin in 1934. Five years later the dashing young sailor attracted the attention of his future wife when the then-princess was 13 and visited Dartmouth with her parents.
“The colour drained from her face and then she blushed. She stared at him and for the rest of the day followed him everywhere. She was in love from the beginning,” the late Earl Mountbatten, Philip’s uncle, recalled later.
They were married at Westminster Abbey on Nov. 20, 1947, in a ceremony attended by statesmen and royalty from around the world.
He continued his naval career until 1951, then took leave and devoted himself full-time to public duties when Elizabeth became queen a year later.
Born in an age of deference to monarchy, Philip helped Elizabeth navigate the political and social upheaval of the 20th century to craft a monarchy fit for a different time.
Often facing a deeply traditional court, he reformed the palace and tried to harness the growing power of television to project royal influence.
He pushed for the queen’s coronation in 1953 to be televised live and behind the scenes removed outdated behaviour in the palace he regarded as stuffy. He was the first royal to do a TV interview.
Despite rumours about the Duke’s infidelity, the couple stayed together and in old age they clearly enjoyed an affection and regard for each other.
They celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary in November 2017.
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