By Elaine Rassel
Buckingham Palace announced the death of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh on Friday (April 9) where he died peacefully at Windsor Castle. Prince Philip was 99 years old, born June 10, 1921. On February 16, 2021 he was admitted to a London hospital where he was treated for an infection. Later he was transferred to another hospital where he underwent a heart procedure. He spent a month in the hospital before being discharged on March 16, 2021.
Prince Philip descended from Danish and German royalty but was born in humble surroundings. He was born on the dining room table at his parents’ home on the Greek Island of Corfu. Like Queen Elizabeth, he was a great-great-grandchild of Queen Victoria. Philip was the fifth child and only son of Prince Andrew, younger brother of the king of Greece.
When Philip was one year old, his family relocated to France after his father was forced into exile. During general unrest, his uncle (the king) was forced to abdicate. When Philip was seven years old, he moved to England to live with his Mountbatten relatives. Amid German sentiment during World War I, his grandfather changed the family name from Battenberg to Mountbatten. Philip went to school in Britain and later attended Britannia Royal Naval College Dartmouth.
Four years went by and when Philip was 11 years old, he joined the Royal Navy as a cadet just as World War II was beginning. When he was old enough to graduate from cadet hood, he served in the Royal Navy during World War II in the Indian Ocean, the Mediterranean and the Pacific and was promoted several times. In 1952, he was commissioned Commander, but for only a short time as his naval career ended because of “royal duties”.
What could royal duties mean? He was 26 years old in 1947 when his engagement to Princess Elizabeth was announced in July of that year. Who was this Princess Elizabeth? She was the daughter of King George VI of England. When World War II was in full force, this Princess was driving trucks and working on them as she did her duty to England. It was hard to believe that a Princess would become involved in doing her duty to her country this way. Philip and Princess Elizabeth married in November of 1947 at Westminster Abbey. On their wedding day, Philip became, Duke of Edinburgh.
World War II was winding down (1948) when their first child, Prince Charles was born. Four years later, Prince Charles became heir to the throne. Two years later (1950), their second child, Princess Anne was born.
It was 1952 when Elizabeth and Philip were in Africa when they received the news that Elizabeth’s father, King George VI had died. Elizabeth now became Queen of England at the age of 25. At this time, Philip was no longer in the lime light, but rather his wife, Queen Elizabeth. He had given up a promising naval career when Elizabeth became Queen but wasn’t content to stay on the sidelines. He promoted British industry and science, and warned about environmental preservation long before others ignored preservation. He was head of many charities and traveled widely in support of these. In 1956 he founded the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award program that expands to more than 100 countries. This program challenges young people to a series of outdoor activities that are designed to improve team building and fitness skills.
In 1960, their third child, Prince Andrew was born and in 1964, their fourth child, Prince Edward was born. The royal couple’s first grandson, Prince William was born to Charles and Princess Diana in 1982.
In 2009, it was announced that Philip had become the longest-serving royal consort in British history and in 2011, Philip turned 90 years old and was gradually turning down some of his workload. He received a successful emergency treatment for a blocked coronary artery shortly after announcing he was going to slow up somewhat.
During these years, Philip’s role was providing support for Elizabeth as she, as Queen, was confronted with the changing demands placed on a constitutional monarch. While Queen, she steered her monarchy through decades of declining judgments as well as the U.K. powers into a modern world where people demanded intimacy from their figures they at one time they thought the best of. Philip helped to make sure the royal family and the monarchy remained an institution vital to the balance and happiness of their national life.
There is no official role for the husband of a queen, and his life was marked by how people saw him between public and private duties. Even though he was the head of the royal family in private, he always walked three paces behind the Queen while in the public. He said at one time about this position, “Constitutionally, I don’t exist.” The Queen is a very private person and wasn’t given to displays of affection but did call Philip, “her rock” in public. When Philip was talking with others, he called her, “the Queen”, but in private called her, “Lilibet”.
As time went by, Philip’s image changed from a handsome, dashing athlete to an arrogant and insensitive person. Later years saw Philip’s image changing to being settled into a philosophical observer of the times. Many Britons liked when he spoke his mind but there were many others that criticized his behavior that they called “racist, sexist or out of touch”.
In writing about Philip, I found two examples of him speaking his piece. He asked a Scottish driving instructor, “How do you keep the natives off the booze long enough to pass the test?” On a visit to a military barracks, he asked a sea cadet instructor if she worked in a strip club! However, he was one of the few figures in the queen’s life who was able to speak plainly to her and provide advice. She was surrounded by men who always agreed with her, but Philip told her how it really was or at least how he saw the situation.
As you can see, being in the public lime light was not an easy place to be. The royal family had their personal problems. When Princess Diana found her husband (Prince Charles) had a “second” woman, their marriage broke down. It didn’t take long for the whole world to find out about the royal problem and what or who was going to do anything about this? This is when Philip spoke for the family with authority.
Up until May of 2017, Philip had been in royal duties. It was at this time that he announced he was stepping back from them due to his age. Two years later (2019), Philip was in a serious car crash near the queen’s Sandringham estate. The driver of the other car suffered a broken wrist while Philip was not injured. At this time, Philip didn’t want to drive anymore and gave up his driver’s license. In addition to these incidents, the last years of his life were clouded by controversy because of what was happening to the royal family.
Princess Diana died due to an automobile accident, leaving Prince Charles to raise their two sons, William and Harry. Prince Andrew (third child) was thought to be mixed up in a scandal with American financier, Jeffrey Epstein, who died in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. A woman accused Andrew of having several sexual encounters at Epstein’s request. Andrew denied her claim but withdrew from public royal duties.
The latest problem that Philip faced was when in 2020, grandson, Prince Harry and wife, Meghan Markle (former American actress), went public and announced they were quitting royal duties. It didn’t help any when the couple spoke to Oprah Winfrey and told “all”. Meghan, in the interview told how she had suffered neglect and racist attitudes while a working member of the family. She said the royal family was hoping their first child (Archie) wouldn’t be “dark” in color as Meghan is biracial. She spoke on how she suffered mentally from this royal concern. The royal family called Harry and Meghan’s withdrawal from royal duties a “concern” and they would be addressed by the family privately.
While there are many people that would have wanted the lifestyle of being a “royal” like Philip, it is easily seen that Philip did not have a lifestyle to be envious of. Anytime a person is in a public lifestyle, nothing can be hidden from the public_even if they have to make up a story about something. It doesn’t have to be the person himself but as we saw, family members can ruin lives of innocent members.
Philip is survived by Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward. He is survived by eight grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren. May Prince Philip rest in peace.