He made quite an impression on the year-old Elizabeth, as would soon become clear. Prince Philip served with distinction in World War Two, seeing military action for the first time in the Indian Ocean. By October , he was 21 years old - and one of the Royal Navy's youngest first lieutenants. The teenaged princess and the officer kept in touch by letter. Over Christmas , after Philip had been to stay with the Royal Family, a photograph of him in naval uniform appeared on her dressing room table.
It was a decisive gesture from a reserved but determined young woman. Some aides were sceptical. A famous sneer since attributed to more than one official claimed the prince was "rough, ill-mannered, uneducated and would probably not be faithful". But naysayers could do nothing to deter the future Queen.
According to biographer Philip Eade, Philip's letters from reveal an ardent young man with a new sense of purpose. He wrote to his soon-to-be mother-in-law: "I am sure I do not deserve all the good things that have happened to me. To have been spared in the war and seen victory, to have been given the chance to rest and to re-adjust myself, to have fallen in love completely and unreservedly, makes all one's personal and even the world's troubles seem small and petty.
King George gave Philip permission to marry his daughter. But first there were some tweaks to make. The erstwhile Prince of Greece and Denmark became a naturalised British subject, formally joined the Church of England and abandoned his foreign titles. On his wedding day, 20 November , he was made Duke of Edinburgh, a name he was widely known by for the rest of his life. He was 26, and his new wife The royal couple would have just over four years and two children together before duty came knocking.
The fateful news reached them at a game lodge in Kenya, during their tour of the Commonwealth. King George VI, Elizabeth's father, was dead at Commander Michael Parker, the Duke of Edinburgh's friend and private secretary, described the moment he realised his wife was now Queen. I have never felt so sorry for anyone in all my life. He just breathed heavily, in and out, as though he were in shock.
He saw immediately that the idyll of their life together had come to an end. Philip's naval ambitions were curbed. The new Queen Elizabeth would need her husband by her side. The Duke of Edinburgh was named as the Queen's consort. His primary function was to support his wife. A long-running row broke out in the early s when Philip wanted the Royal Family to take his surname, Mountbatten.
Philip struggled to find purpose in the limited role set out for him. But as a natural pragmatist, he was determined to blow fresh air through the stuffier corridors of Buckingham Palace. The Duke never forgot his family's forced exodus from Greece, and believed monarchies must adapt to survive. He set up informal lunches where the Queen could meet people from a broader range of backgrounds.
The footmen - palace servants with a traditional uniform - stopped powdering their hair. And when he learned the palace was running a second kitchen exclusively to feed the royals, he had one shut down.
Some changes were more personal, and reflected his childlike love of gadgets. Before the Coronation, when Philip and the future Queen moved into Clarence House in , he happily installed an array of labour-saving devices, including one in his wardrobe that would eject a suit at the push of a button.
The Duke also championed a minute fly-on-the-wall BBC documentary entitled Royal Family, which aired in and was considered landmark television. It featured the Queen feeding carrots to her Trooping the Colour horse, watching TV and discussing salad at a Balmoral barbecue while Princess Anne cooked sausages.
At Buckingham Palace, Philip had intercoms put in so that servants no longer had to ferry written messages to his wife. He carried his own luggage, and cooked his own breakfast in his rooms with an electric frying pan - until the Queen objected to the smell. As the longest-serving consort in British history, the prince took on some 22, solo engagements. When he retired from royal duties in , he was said to be patron, president or a member of more than organisations.
Accompanying the globetrotting Queen on Commonwealth tours and state visits, he visited countries in an official capacity, making use of his fluent French and German. The Duke of Edinburgh died at Windsor Castle , but despite being the son of a prince and princess, he was not a King.
Prince Philip, otherwise known as the Duke of Edinburgh turned 99 in June, He would have hit a significant milestone this year when he turned after being born in in Greece. Prince Philip was married to the Queen for more than 70 years. Philip was born on June 10, , in Corfu, Greece, but his family was exiled when he was just a child.
A keen sports' fan, he has been involved in a number of events including developing the equestrian event of carriage driving. He has also been the patron of hundreds of organisations, often attending events with the Queen as part of their royal duties.
But it hasn't all been smooth sailing - with Prince Philip known for being one of the most gaffe-prone members of the royal family. In May , it was announced that he would be retiring from public engagements , having attended days of engagements in Before his death he took more of a back seat role, although he occasionally appeared alongside other royals at public events.
The BBC's royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell said it was "a moment of sadness" for the country and "most particularly, for the Queen losing her husband of 73 years - a bigger span of years than most of us can imagine". He said Prince Philip had made "a huge contribution to the success of the Queen's reign", describing the duke as "utterly loyal in his belief in the importance of the role that the Queen was fulfilling - and in his duty to support her".
A bank of photographers and cameramen were lined up around the growing number of tributes at Buckingham Palace on Friday afternoon, said BBC News reporter Marie Jackson. Rhea Varma, from Pimlico, pulled up to the gates on her bike to lay flowers and a note saying Rest in Peace Duke. She said the news was "super sad". To her, the duke was "the kind of stability that's so old-fashioned it's difficult to comprehend.
He was a rock who brought integrity. Adam Wharton-Ward, 36, also arrived to leave lilies by the palace gates. He is visiting London from his home in France but was so moved by the news, he wanted to "rally round" for the Queen's sake. He's been with her for 73 years. If it wasn't for him who knows if she would have got through it," he said. The duke's appeal, he added, was that he was "almost normal with his gaffes". The prince married Princess Elizabeth in , five years before she became Queen.
He was admitted on 16 February after feeling unwell, and later underwent a procedure for a pre-existing heart condition at another London hospital - St Bartholomew's.
This is a town that's seen many royal events over the years, both happy and sad. The sun has been shining down on Windsor Castle this afternoon, but the mood outside is understandably sombre. As locals heard of the duke's death they turned up to leave flowers outside the entrance.
One young boy, Oscar, came with his mother to lay flowers. He left a card which read: "Your Majesty, so sorry about hearing about your amazing husband.
The flag here hasn't been lowered to half-mast. That's because it's the Royal Standard which means the Queen is in residence. It's the one flag which remains at full mast.
It was here that the duke spent his last weeks after being discharged from hospital. Inside the castle the Queen, now a widow, is in mourning for her husband who has always been by her side.
0コメント