The Story of Prince Philip: The longest-lived male member of the British royal family
Shortpedia
Content Team
Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, was the husband of Elizabeth II, the United Kingdom's Queen. Philip got the title of a British prince in 1957 and served as chairman of The Duke of Edinburgh's Award. He was the longest-living male member of the British Royal family and the longest-serving consort of a reigning British monarch. The late Prince retired from his duties on August 2, 2017, when he was 96. In his 99-year-long life, Prince Philip donned many different hats.
Biography
Prince Phillip was born in Mon Repos on the Greek island of Corfu on June 10, 1921, into Greek and Danish royal families. He was the child of Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and Princess Alice of Battenberg. When he was just 18, his family was exiled from Greece. Philip did his education in France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. After completing his studies, Philip joined the British Royal Navy in 1939. He was just 18 then. He served in the Mediterranean and Pacific armada during the Second World War.
Meeting Elizabeth II:
Philip first met Elizabeth II in 1934 when she was just 8. Philip started exchanging love letters with Elizabeth II in 1939. They had come close when King George VI and Elizabeth toured the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, in 1939. Philip eventually gathered the courage to ask the king for his daughter's hand for marriage in 1946.
After the Second World War was over, George VI allowed Philip to marry Elizabeth II. Before marrying the princess, Philip gave up his Greek and Danish titles to become a British citizen. After adopting his maternal grandparent's surname, Mountbatten, he finally married Elizabeth on November 20, 1947. Before the marriage, King George VI granted Philip the style His Royal Highness. He was given the title of Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Merioneth, and Baron Greenwich.
He had climbed to the commander's rank when he left the active military in 1952. Elizabeth II became the Queen. Five years later, in 1957, Philip became a British Prince.
However, the road ahead was not easy for the royal couple. There were disagreements among the royal family about the title that the couple's descendants would use. Upon Queen Mary's request, Prime Minister Winston Churchill advised Elizabeth to declare that the Royal House will continue to be known as the House of Windsor. However, this changed after Queen Mary's demise. The Queen issued an Order in Council declaring that Mountbatten-Windsor would be her and her husband's male-line descendants' surname.
Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth II had fourth children- Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew, and Prince Edward.
Duties as a serving consort of a monarch:
As a consort of the monarch, Prince Philip continued to accompany Queen Elizabeth II to important ceremonies and international tours. He was also the chairman of the Coronation Commission. Prince Philip knelt before the Queen and swore to be her 'liege man of life and limb.'
Achievements
The Duke founded The Duke of Edinburgh's Award in 1956. The motive behind starting the award was to give young people "a sense of responsibility to themselves and their communities." He also established the Commonwealth Study Conferences in the same year. He traveled worldwide from 1956 to 1957 and became the first royal to cross the Antarctic Circle.
Another feather was added on Prince Philip's hat after Queen Elizabeth II granted him the style and title of a Prince of the United Kingdom by Letters Patent. He was after that known as "His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh."
He was appointed to the Queen's Privy Council for Canada on October 14, 1957. He took his Oath of Allegiance before the Queen.
Prince Philip became the longest-serving British royal consort in April 2009. In 2013, he became the oldest-ever male British royal February 2013 and the third-longest-lived member of the British royal family. Only Princess Alice and Elizabeth II's mother, Queen Elizabeth, lived longer than him.
The Prince retired from his royal duties on August 2, 2017, at the age of 96. He passed away on April 9, 2021, two months before his 100th birthday. As the late Prince had once said about the chance of becoming a centenarian - "I can't imagine anything worse." The palace said in a statement that the king passed away peacefully. The cause behind his death was not disclosed.