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Prince Philip
Duke of Edinburgh (more)
Prince Philip in 2015
Consort of the British monarch
Tenure	6 February 1952 – present
Born	Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark (1921-06-10) 10 June 1921 (age 97) Mon Repos, Corfu, Greece
Spouse	Elizabeth II (m. 1947)
Issue Detail	Charles, Prince of Wales Anne, Princess Royal Prince Andrew, Duke of York Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex
House	Glücksburg
Father	Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark
Mother	Princess Alice of Battenberg
Signature
Military career
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Navy  British Army  Royal Air Force
Years of service	1939–1952 (active service)
Rank	Admiral of the Fleet Field Marshal Marshal of the Royal Air Force
Commands held	HMS Magpie
Battles/wars	Second World War Battle of Crete Battle of Cape Matapan Allied invasion of Sicily Operation Dragoon Operation Robson Operation Lentil Battle of Okinawa
Awards	Mentioned in dispatches Croix de Guerre with Palm Greek War Cross

Royal family of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms
HM The Queen HRH The Duke of Edinburgh HRH The Prince of Wales HRH The Duchess of Cornwall HRH The Duke of Cambridge HRH The Duchess of Cambridge HRH Prince George of Cambridge HRH Princess Charlotte of Cambridge HRH Prince Louis of Cambridge HRH The Duke of Sussex HRH The Duchess of Sussex HRH The Princess Royal HRH The Duke of York HRH Princess Beatrice of York HRH Princess Eugenie HRH The Earl of Wessex HRH The Countess of Wessex HRH The Duke of Gloucester HRH The Duchess of Gloucester HRH The Duke of Kent HRH The Duchess of Kent HRH Princess Alexandra HRH Prince Michael of Kent HRH Princess Michael of Kent
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Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark,^[1] 10 June 1921),^{[fn 1]} is the husband and consort of Queen Elizabeth II.

Philip was born into the Greek and Danish royal families. He was born in Greece, but his family was exiled from the country when he was an infant. After being educated in France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, he joined the British Royal Navy in 1939, aged 18. From July 1939, he began corresponding with the 13-year-old Princess Elizabeth, whom he had first met in 1934. During the Second World War he served with the Mediterranean and Pacific Fleets.

After the war, Philip was granted permission by King George VI to marry Elizabeth. Before the official announcement of their engagement in July 1947, he abandoned his Greek and Danish royal titles and became a naturalised British subject, adopting the surname Mountbatten from his maternal grandparents. He married Elizabeth on 20 November 1947. Just before the wedding, he was created Baron Greenwich, Earl of Merioneth and Duke of Edinburgh. Philip left active military service when Elizabeth became monarch in 1952, having reached the rank of commander, and was formally made a British prince in 1957.

Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth II have four children: Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew, and Prince Edward. Through a British Order in Council issued in 1960, descendants of Philip and Elizabeth not bearing royal styles and titles can use the surname Mountbatten-Windsor, which has also been used by some members of the royal family who do hold titles, such as Prince Andrew, Princess Anne and Prince Edward.

A keen sports enthusiast, Philip helped develop the equestrian event of carriage driving. He is a patron, president or member of over 780 organisations and serves as chairman of The Duke of Edinburgh's Award for people aged 14 to 24. He is the longest-serving consort of a reigning British monarch and the oldest-ever male member of the British royal family. Philip retired from his royal duties on 2 August 2017, at the age of 96, after having completed 22,219 solo engagements since 1952.

Early life

Mon Repos, the birthplace of Philip

Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark was born in Mon Repos on the Greek island of Corfu on 10 June 1921, the only son and fifth and final child of Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and Princess Alice of Battenberg.^[2] Philip's four elder sisters were Margarita, Theodora, Cecilie, and Sophie. He was baptised into the Greek Orthodox Church. His godparents were his paternal grandmother Queen Olga of Greece and Alexandros S. Kokotos, Mayor of Corfu.^[3]

Shortly after Philip's birth, his maternal grandfather, Prince Louis of Battenberg, then known as Louis Mountbatten, Marquess of Milford Haven, died in London. Louis was a naturalised British citizen, who, after a career in the Royal Navy, had renounced his German titles and adopted the surname Mountbatten, an Anglicized version of Battenberg, during the First World War due to Anti-German sentiment in Great Britain. After visiting London for the memorial, Philip and his mother returned to Greece where Prince Andrew had remained behind to command an army division embroiled in the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922).^[4]

The war went badly for Greece, and the Turks made large gains. On 22 September 1922, Philip's uncle, King Constantine I, was forced to abdicate and the new military government arrested Prince Andrew, along with others. The commander of the army, General Georgios Hatzianestis, and five senior politicians were executed. Prince Andrew's life was believed to be in danger, and Alice was under surveillance. In December, a revolutionary court banished Prince Andrew from Greece for life.^[5] The British naval vessel HMS Calypso evacuated Prince Andrew's family, with Philip carried to safety in a cot made from a fruit box. Philip's family went to France, where they settled in the Paris suburb of Saint-Cloud in a house lent to them by his wealthy aunt, Princess George of Greece and Denmark.^[6]

Because Philip left Greece as a baby, he does not have a strong grasp of the Greek language. In 1992, he said that he "could understand a certain amount".^[7] Philip has stated that he has thought of himself as Danish, and his family spoke English, French, and German.^[7] Philip, who in his youth was known for his charm, was linked to a number of women including Osla Benning.^[8]

Youth

Education

Philip studied at Gordonstoun School, Scotland.

Philip was first educated at The Elms,^[9] an American school in Paris run by Donald MacJannet, who described Philip as a "know it all smarty person, but always remarkably polite".^[10] In 1928, he was sent to the United Kingdom to attend Cheam School, living with his maternal grandmother, Victoria Mountbatten, Dowager Marchioness of Milford Haven, at Kensington Palace and his uncle, George Mountbatten, 2nd Marquess of Milford Haven, at Lynden Manor in Bray, Berkshire.^[11] In the next three years, his four sisters married German noblemen and moved to Germany, his mother was placed in an asylum after being diagnosed with schizophrenia,^[12] and his father moved to a small flat in Monte Carlo.^[13] Philip had little contact with his mother for the remainder of his childhood.^[14] In 1933, he was sent to Schule Schloss Salem in Germany, which had the "advantage of saving school fees" because it was owned by the family of his brother-in-law, Berthold, Margrave of Baden.^[15] With the rise of Nazism in Germany, Salem's Jewish founder, Kurt Hahn, fled persecution and founded Gordonstoun School in Scotland. After two terms at Salem, Philip moved to Gordonstoun.^[16] In 1937, his sister Cecilie, her husband Georg Donatus, Hereditary Grand Duke of Hesse, her two young sons, Ludwig and Alexander, her newborn infant and her mother-in-law, Princess Eleonore of Solms-Hohensolms-Lich, were killed in an air crash at Ostend; Philip, then sixteen years old, attended the funeral in Darmstadt.^[17] The following year, his uncle and guardian Lord Milford Haven died of bone marrow cancer.^[18]

Naval and wartime service

After leaving Gordonstoun in 1939, Philip joined the Royal Navy, graduating the next year from the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, as the best cadet in his course.^[19] During the Second World War, he continued to serve in the British forces, while two of his brothers-in-law, Prince Christoph of Hesse and Berthold, Margrave of Baden, fought on the opposing German side.^[20] Philip was appointed as a midshipman in January 1940. He spent four months on the battleship HMS Ramillies, protecting convoys of the Australian Expeditionary Force in the Indian Ocean, followed by shorter postings on HMS Kent, on HMS Shropshire and in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka).^[13] After the invasion of Greece by Italy in October 1940, he was transferred from the Indian Ocean to the battleship HMS Valiant in the Mediterranean Fleet.^[21]

Philip served aboard HMS Valiant in the Battle of the Mediterranean.

On 1 February 1941,^[22] he was commissioned as a sub-lieutenant after a series of courses at Portsmouth, in which he gained the top grade in four out of five sections of the qualifying examination.^[23] Among other engagements, he was involved in the Battle of Crete, and was mentioned in dispatches for his service during the Battle of Cape Matapan,^[9] in which he controlled the battleship's searchlights. He was also awarded the Greek War Cross of Valour.^[19] Duties of lesser glory included stoking the boilers of the troop transport ship RMS Empress of Russia.^[24] In June 1942, he was appointed to the V and W-class destroyer and flotilla leader HMS Wallace, which was involved in convoy escort tasks on the east coast of Britain, as well as the Allied invasion of Sicily.^[25]

Promotion to lieutenant followed on 16 July 1942.^[26] In October of the same year, he became first lieutenant of HMS Wallace, at 21 years old one of the youngest first lieutenants in the Royal Navy. During the invasion of Sicily, in July 1943, as second in command of HMS Wallace, he saved his ship from a night bomber attack. He devised a plan to launch a raft with smoke floats that successfully distracted the bombers, allowing the ship to slip away unnoticed.^[25] In 1944, he moved on to the new destroyer, HMS Whelp, where he saw service with the British Pacific Fleet in the 27th Destroyer Flotilla.^[27][28] He was present in Tokyo Bay when the instrument of Japanese surrender was signed. In January 1946, Philip returned to the United Kingdom on the Whelp, and was posted as an instructor at HMS Royal Arthur, the Petty Officers' School in Corsham, Wiltshire.^[29]

Marriage

Philip's monogram

In 1939, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth toured the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth. During the visit, the Queen and Earl Mountbatten asked Philip to escort the King's two daughters, Elizabeth and Margaret, who were Philip's third cousins through Queen Victoria, and second cousins once removed through King Christian IX of Denmark.^[30] Elizabeth fell in love with Philip and they began to exchange letters when she was thirteen.^[31] Eventually, in the summer of 1946, Philip asked the King for his daughter's hand in marriage. The King granted his request, provided that any formal engagement be delayed until Elizabeth's twenty-first birthday the following April.^[32] By March 1947, Philip had abandoned his Greek and Danish royal titles, had adopted the surname Mountbatten from his mother's family, and had become a naturalised British subject. The engagement was announced to the public on 10 July 1947.^[33] Though Philip appeared "always to have regarded himself as an Anglican",^[34] and he had attended Anglican services with his classmates and relations in England and throughout his Royal Navy days, he had been baptised in the Greek Orthodox Church. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Geoffrey Fisher, wanted to "regularise" Philip's position by officially receiving him into the Church of England,^[35] which he did in October 1947.^[36] The day preceding his wedding, King George VI bestowed the style of Royal Highness on Philip and, on the morning of the wedding, 20 November 1947, he was made the Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Merioneth, and Baron Greenwich of Greenwich in the County of London.^[37] Consequently, being already a Knight of the Garter, between 19 and 20 November 1947 he bore the unusual style His Royal Highness Sir Philip Mountbatten and is so described in the Letters Patent of 20 November 1947.^[37]

Philip and Elizabeth were married in a ceremony at Westminster Abbey, recorded and broadcast by BBC radio to 200 million people around the world.^[38] However, in post-war Britain, it was not acceptable for any of the Duke of Edinburgh's German relations to be invited to the wedding, including Philip's three surviving sisters, all of whom had married German princes, some with Nazi connections. After their marriage, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh took up residence at Clarence House. Their first two children were born: Prince Charles in 1948 and Princess Anne in 1950. Their marriage is now the longest of any British sovereign.^[39][40]

Philip was introduced to the House of Lords on 21 July 1948,^[41] immediately before his uncle Earl Mountbatten of Burma.^[42] Philip like his sons Charles and Andrew and other royals ceased to be members of the House of Lords following the House of Lords Act 1999. He never spoke in the House.

After his honeymoon at the Mountbatten family home, Broadlands, Philip returned to the navy at first in a desk job at the Admiralty, and later on a staff course at the Naval Staff College, Greenwich.^[43] From 1949, he was stationed in Malta (residing at Villa Guardamangia) after being posted as the first lieutenant of the destroyer HMS Chequers, the lead ship of the 1st Destroyer Flotilla in the Mediterranean Fleet.^[44] On 16 July 1950, he was promoted to lieutenant commander and given command of the frigate HMS Magpie.^[45][46] On 30 June 1952, Philip was promoted to commander,^[47] though his active naval career had ended in July 1951.^[48][49]

With the King in ill health, Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh were both appointed to the Privy Council on 4 November 1951, after a coast-to-coast tour of Canada. At the end of January 1952, Philip and his wife set out on a tour of the Commonwealth. On 6 February 1952, when they were in Kenya, Elizabeth's father died and she became queen. It was Philip who broke the news of her father's death to Elizabeth at Sagana Lodge, and the royal party immediately returned to the United Kingdom.^[50]

Consort of the Queen

Coronation portrait of Queen Elizabeth II with the Duke of Edinburgh, June 1953, by Cecil Beaton

Royal house

The accession of Elizabeth to the throne brought up the question of the name of the royal house. The Duke's uncle, Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, advocated the name House of Mountbatten, as Elizabeth would typically have taken Philip's last name on marriage; however, when Queen Mary, Elizabeth's grandmother, heard of this suggestion, she informed the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who himself later advised the Queen to issue a royal proclamation declaring that the royal house was to remain known as the House of Windsor. Churchill's strong personal antipathy to Lord Mountbatten, whom he considered a dangerous and subversive rival who had lost India, may have contributed to this. Prince Philip privately complained, "I am nothing but a bloody amoeba. I am the only man in the country not allowed to give his name to his own children."^[51]

On 8 February 1960, several years after the death of Queen Mary and the resignation of Churchill, the Queen issued an Order in Council declaring that Mountbatten-Windsor would be the surname of her and her husband's male-line descendants who are not styled as Royal Highness or titled as Prince or Princess.^[52] While it seems the Queen had "absolutely set her heart" on such a change and had it in mind for some time, it occurred only eleven days before the birth of Prince Andrew (19 February), and only after three months of protracted correspondence between constitutional expert Edward Iwi (who averred that, without such a change, the royal child would be born with "the Badge of Bastardy") and Prime Minister Harold Macmillan who had attempted to rebuff Iwi.^[53]

After her accession to the throne, the Queen also announced that the Duke was to have "place, pre-eminence and precedence" next to her "on all occasions and in all meetings, except where otherwise provided by Act of Parliament". This meant the Duke took precedence over his son, the Prince of Wales, except, officially, in the British parliament. In fact, however, he attends Parliament only when escorting the Queen for the annual State Opening of Parliament, where he walks and sits beside her.^[54]

Contrary to rumours over the years, the Queen and Duke are said by insiders to have had a strong relationship throughout their marriage, despite the challenges of Elizabeth's reign.^[55][56] The Queen referred to Prince Philip in a speech on the occasion of her Diamond Jubilee in 2012 as her "constant strength and guide".^[56]

Duties and milestones

As consort to the Queen, Philip supported his wife in her new duties as sovereign, accompanying her to ceremonies such as the State Opening of Parliament in various countries, state dinners, and tours abroad. As Chairman of the Coronation Commission, he was the first member of the royal family to fly in a helicopter, visiting the troops that were to take part in the ceremony.^[57] Philip was not crowned in the service, but knelt before Elizabeth, with her hands enclosing his, and swore to be her "liege man of life and limb".^[58]

The Duke of Edinburgh in Brisbane, Australia, in 1954

In the early 1950s, his sister-in-law, Princess Margaret, considered marrying a divorced older man, Peter Townsend. The press accused Philip of being hostile to the match, to which he replied "I haven't done anything." Philip had not interfered, preferring to stay out of other people's love lives.^[59] Eventually, Margaret and Townsend parted. For six months, over 1953–54, Philip and Elizabeth toured the Commonwealth; again their children were left in the United Kingdom.^[60]

In 1956, the Duke, with Kurt Hahn, founded The Duke of Edinburgh's Award in order to give young people "a sense of responsibility to themselves and their communities". In the same year, he also established the Commonwealth Study Conferences. From 1956 to 1957, Philip travelled around the world aboard the newly commissioned HMY Britannia, during which he opened the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne and visited the Antarctic, becoming the first royal to cross the Antarctic Circle.^[61] The Queen and the children remained in the UK. On the return leg of the journey, Philip's private secretary, Mike Parker, was sued for divorce by his wife. As with Townsend, the press still portrayed divorce as a scandal and eventually Parker resigned. He later said that the Duke was very supportive and "the Queen was wonderful throughout. She regarded divorce as a sadness, not a hanging offence."^[62] In a public show of support, the Queen created Parker a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order.^[63]

Further press reports claimed that the Queen and the Duke were drifting apart, which enraged the Duke and dismayed the Queen, who issued a strongly worded denial.^[64] On 22 February 1957, she granted her husband the style and title of a Prince of the United Kingdom by Letters Patent, and it was gazetted that he was to be known as "His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh".^[65]

Philip was appointed to the Queen's Privy Council for Canada on 14 October 1957, taking his Oath of Allegiance before the Queen in person at her Canadian residence, Rideau Hall.^[66] Remarks he made two years later to the Canadian Medical Association on the subject of youth and sport were taken as a suggestion that Canadian children were out of shape. This was at first considered "tactless", but Philip was later admired for his encouragement of physical fitness.^[67] In Canada in 1969, Philip spoke about his views on republicanism:

It is a complete misconception to imagine that the monarchy exists in the interests of the monarch. It doesn't. It exists in the interests of the people. If at any time any nation decides that the system is unacceptable, then it is up to them to change it.^[68]

Philip at the opening of the World Championship Coach-and-fours in 1982

Philip is patron of some 800 organisations, particularly focused on the environment, industry, sport, and education. He was President of the National Playing Fields Association (now known as Fields in Trust) for 64 years, from 1947 until his grandson Prince William took over the role in 2013.^[69] He served as UK President of the World Wildlife Fund from 1961 to 1982, International President from 1981, and President Emeritus from 1996.^[61] In 1952, he became patron of The Industrial Society (since renamed The Work Foundation).^[9] He was President of the International Equestrian Federation from 1964 to 1986,^[70] and has served as Chancellor of the Universities of Cambridge, Edinburgh, Salford, and Wales.^[71] In 2017, the British Heart Foundation thanked Prince Philip for being its patron for 55 years, during which time, in addition to organising fundraisers, he "supported the creation of nine BHF-funded centres of excellence".^[72] He is an Honorary Fellow of St Edmund's College, Cambridge.^[73]

At the beginning of 1981, Philip wrote to his eldest son, Charles, counselling him to make up his mind to either propose to Lady Diana Spencer or break off their courtship.^[74] Charles felt pressured by his father to make a decision and did so, proposing to Diana in February.^[75]They married six months later.

Photograph by Allan Warren, 1992

By 1992, the marriage of the Prince and Princess of Wales had broken down. The Queen and Philip hosted a meeting between Charles and Diana, trying to effect a reconciliation, but without success.^[76] Philip wrote to Diana, expressing his disappointment at both Charles's and her extra-marital affairs, and asking her to examine both his and her behaviour from the other's point of view.^[77] She found the letters hard to take, but nevertheless she appreciated that he was acting with good intent.^[78] Charles and Diana separated and later divorced.

A year after the divorce, Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris on 31 August 1997. At the time, the Duke was on holiday at Balmoral with the extended royal family. In their grief, Diana's two sons, Princes William and Harry, wanted to attend church and so their grandparents took them that morning.^[79] For five days, the Queen and the Duke shielded their grandsons from the ensuing press interest by keeping them at Balmoral, where they could grieve in private.^[79] The royal family's seclusion caused public dismay,^[79] but the public mood changed after a live broadcast made by the Queen on 5 September.^[80] Uncertain as to whether they should walk behind her coffin during the funeral procession, Diana's sons hesitated.^[80] Philip told William, "If you don't walk, I think you'll regret it later. If I walk, will you walk with me?"^[80] On the day of the funeral, Philip, William, Harry, Charles and Diana's brother, Earl Spencer, walked through London behind her bier.

Over the next few years, Mohamed Fayed, whose son Dodi Fayed was also killed in the crash, claimed that Prince Philip had ordered the death of Diana and that the accident was staged. The inquest into the Princess of Wales's death concluded in 2008 that there was no evidence of a conspiracy.^[81]

Prince Philip receives a Parliamentary annuity (of £359,000 since 1990^{[fn 2]}) that serves to meet official expenses in carrying out public duties. The annuity is unaffected by the reform of royal finances under the Sovereign Grant Act 2011.^[82][83] Any part of the allowance that is not used to meet official expenditure is liable for tax. In practice, the entire allowance is used to fund his official duties.^[84]

During his wife's Golden Jubilee in 2002, the Duke was commended by the Speaker of the British House of Commons for his role in supporting the Queen during her reign. The Duke of Edinburgh's time as royal consort exceeds that of any other consort in British history;^[85] however, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother (his mother-in-law), who died aged 101, has had the longest lifespan to date.

In April 2008, Philip was admitted to King Edward VII's Hospital for "assessment and treatment" for a chest infection, though he walked into the hospital unaided and recovered quickly,^[86] and was discharged three days later to recuperate at Windsor Castle.^[87] In August, the Evening Standard reported that he was suffering from prostate cancer. Buckingham Palace, which usually refuses to comment on rumours of ill health, claimed that the report was an invasion of privacy and issued a statement denying the story.^[88] The newspaper retracted the report and admitted it was untrue.^[89][90]

In June 2011, in an interview marking his 90th birthday he said that he would now slow down and reduce his duties, stating that he had "done [his] bit".^[91] His wife, the Queen, gave him the title Lord High Admiral for his 90th birthday.^[92] While staying at the royal residence at Sandringham, Norfolk, on 23 December 2011, the Duke suffered chest pains and was taken to the cardio-thoracic unit at Papworth Hospital, Cambridgeshire, where he underwent successful coronary angioplasty and stenting.^[93] He was discharged on 27 December.^[94]

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, June 2012

On 4 June 2012, during the celebrations in honour of his wife's Diamond Jubilee, Philip was taken from Windsor Castle to the King Edward VII Hospital, London, suffering from a bladder infection.^[95][96] He was released from hospital on 9 June.^[97] After a recurrence of infection in August 2012, while staying at Balmoral Castle, he was admitted to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary for five nights as a precautionary measure.^[98] In June 2013, Philip was admitted to the London Clinic for an exploratory operation on his abdomen, spending 11 days in hospital.^[99] On 21 May 2014, the Prince appeared in public with a bandage on his right hand after a "minor procedure" was performed in Buckingham Palace the preceding day.^[100] In June 2017, he was taken from Windsor to London and admitted to King Edward VII Hospital after being diagnosed with an infection.^[101] He spent two nights in the hospital and was unable to attend the State Opening of Parliament and Royal Ascot.^[102][103]

Retirement and beyond

Prince Philip retired from his royal duties on 2 August 2017, meeting Royal Marines in his final solo public engagement, aged 96. Since 1952 he had completed 22,219 solo engagements. Prime Minister Theresa May thanked him, via Twitter, for "a remarkable lifetime of service".^[104][105] On 20 November 2017, he celebrated his 70th wedding anniversary with the Queen, which made her the first British monarch to celebrate a platinum wedding anniversary.^[106]

On 3 April 2018, Philip was admitted to the King Edward VII Hospital for a planned hip replacement, which took place the next day. This came after the Duke missed the annual Maundy and Easter Sunday services. On 12 April his daughter, Princess Anne, spent about 50 minutes in the hospital and afterwards said her father was "on good form". He was discharged the following day.^[107] On 19 May, six weeks later, he attended the wedding of his grandson Prince Harry to actress Meghan Markle and was able to walk with the Queen unaided.^[108] In October that year, he accompanied the Queen to the wedding of their granddaughter Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank,^[109] with The Daily Telegraph reporting that Philip works on a "wake up and see how I feel" basis when deciding whether to attend an event or not.^[110]

Personality and image

Philip played polo until 1971, when he started to compete in carriage driving, a sport which he helped expand; the early rule book was drafted under his supervision.^[111] He was a keen yachtsman, striking up a friendship in 1949 with Uffa Fox in Cowes. He and the Queen regularly attended Cowes Week in HMY Britannia. His first airborne flying lesson took place in 1952; by his 70th birthday he had accrued 5,150 pilot hours.^[112] He was presented with Royal Air Force wings in 1953.^[113] In April 2014, it was reported that an old British Pathe newsreel film had been discovered of Philip's 1962 two-month flying tour of South America. Filmed sitting alongside Philip at the aircraft's controls was his co-pilot Captain Peter Middleton, the grandfather of the Duke's granddaughter-in-law, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge.^[114][115]

Her Majesty the Queen at Breakfast painted by her husband in 1957. Biographer Robert Lacey described the painting as "a tender portrayal, impressionistic in style, with brushstrokes that are charmingly soft and fuzzy".^[116]

He has painted with oils, and collected artworks, including contemporary cartoons, which hang at Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, Sandringham House, and Balmoral Castle. Hugh Casson described Philip's own artwork as "exactly what you'd expect ... totally direct, no hanging about. Strong colours, vigorous brushstrokes."^[117]

His down-to-earth manner was attested to by a White House butler who recalled that, on a visit in 1979, Philip had engaged him and a fellow butler in a conversation, and poured them drinks.^[118] As well as a reputation for bluntness and plain speaking,^[119] Philip is noted for occasionally making observations and jokes that have been construed as either funny, or as gaffes: awkward, politically incorrect or even offensive, but sometimes perceived as stereotypical of someone of his age and background.^{[120][121][122][123][124]} In an address to the General Dental Council in 1960, he jokingly coined a new word for his blunders: "Dontopedalogy is the science of opening your mouth and putting your foot in it, a science which I have practised for a good many years."^[125] Later in life he suggested his comments may have contributed to the perception that he is "a cantankerous old sod".^[126] The historian David Starkey has described him as a kind of "HRH Victor Meldrew".^[127] For example, in May 1999 British newspapers accused Philip of insulting deaf children at a pop concert in Wales by saying, "No wonder you are deaf listening to this row."^[128] Later Philip wrote, "The story is largely invention. It so happens that my mother was quite seriously deaf and I have been Patron of the Royal National Institute for the Deaf for ages, so it's hardly likely that I would do any such thing."^[129] When he and the Queen met Stephen Menary, an army cadet blinded by an IRA bomb, and the Queen enquired how much sight he retained, Philip quipped: "Not a lot, judging by the tie he's wearing." Menary later said: "I think he just tries to put people at ease by trying to make a joke. I certainly didn't take any offence."^[130] During a state visit to the People's Republic of China in 1986, in a private conversation with British students from Xi'an's North West University, Philip joked, "If you stay here much longer, you'll go slit-eyed."^[131] The British press reported on the remark as indicative of racial intolerance, but the Chinese authorities were reportedly unconcerned. Chinese students studying in the UK, an official explained, were often told in jest not to stay away too long, lest they go "round-eyed".^[132] His comment had no effect on Sino-British relations, but it shaped his own reputation.^[133]

Titles, styles, honours and arms

The Duke of Edinburgh, Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal Canadian Regiment, presenting the 3rd Battalion with their Regimental Colours in April 2013

Philip has held a number of titles throughout his life. Originally holding the title and style of a prince of Greece and Denmark, Philip abandoned these royal titles prior to his marriage, and was thereafter created a British duke, among other noble titles. The Queen formally issued letters patent in 1957 making Philip a British prince.^[65]

When addressing the Duke of Edinburgh, as with any male member of the royal family except the monarch, the rules of etiquette are to address him the first time as Your Royal Highness, and thereafter as Sir.^[134]

Honours and honorary military appointments

The Duke of Edinburgh was appointed by King George VI to the Order of the Garter on 19 November 1947, the eve of his wedding. Since then, Philip has received 17 different appointments and decorations in the Commonwealth, and 48 from foreign states. The inhabitants of some villages on the island of Tanna, Vanuatu worship Prince Philip as a god; the islanders possess portraits of the Duke and hold feasts on his birthday.^[135]

Ni-Vanuatu with pictures of Philip

Upon his wife's accession to the throne in 1952, the Duke was appointed Admiral of the Sea Cadet Corps, Colonel-in-Chief of the British Army Cadet Force, and Air Commodore-in-Chief of the Air Training Corps.^[136] The following year, he was appointed to the equivalent positions in Canada, and made Admiral of the Fleet, Captain General Royal Marines, Field Marshal, and Marshal of the Royal Air Force in the United Kingdom.^[137] Subsequent military appointments were made in New Zealand and Australia.^[138] In 1975, he was appointed Colonel of the Grenadier Guards, a position he handed over to his son Andrew in 2017.^[139] On 16 December 2015, his role as Honorary Air Commodore-in-Chief was handed over to the Duchess of Cambridge.

To celebrate his 90th birthday, the Queen appointed him Lord High Admiral of the Royal Navy (the highest title in the organisation)^[140] and Canada appointed him to the highest ranks available in all three branches of the Canadian Armed Forces.^[141]

On their 70th wedding anniversary, 20 November 2017, the Queen appointed him Knight Grand Cross (GCVO) of the Royal Victorian Order, making him the first British national since his late uncle, the first Earl Mountbatten of Burma, to be entitled to wear the breast stars of four orders of chivalry in the United Kingdom.^[142]

Arms

Coat of arms of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

Notes Following his marriage to Princess Elizabeth until 1949, Prince Philip's arms featured a differenced version of the royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom, derived from his ancestor Princess Alice.[143] Unlike the arms used by other members of the royal family, the Duke's arms no longer features the royal arms of the United Kingdom, as he was granted new arms by King George VI in 1949. However, they do feature elements representing Greece and Denmark, from which he is descended in the male line; the Mountbatten family arms, from which he is descended in the female line; and the City of Edinburgh. Adopted 19 November 1947 Crest Issuant from a ducal coronet Or, a plume of five ostrich feathers alternately Sable and Argent; Torse Mantling Or and ermine Helm Upon a coronet of a son of the sovereign Proper, the royal helm Or[144] Escutcheon From 1949: Quarterly: First Or, semée of hearts Gules, three lions passant in pale Azure (For Denmark), Second Azure, a cross Argent (For Greece), Third Argent, two pallets Sable (For Battenberg or Mountbatten), Fourth Argent, upon a rock Proper a castle triple towered Sable, masoned Argent, windows, port, turret-caps and vanes Gules (For Edinburgh), the whole surrounded by the Garter.[144] Supporters Dexter, a representation of Hercules girt about the loins with a lion skin, crowned with a chaplet of oak leaves, holding in the dexter hand a club Proper (from the Danish and Greek royal coat of arms); sinister, a lion queue fourchée ducally crowned Or and gorged with a naval coronet Azure; Motto GOD IS MY HELP Orders The Order of the Garter ribbon HONI SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE (Shamed be he who thinks evil of it) Banner A banner of the Duke's arms is used as his personal standard.[145] Symbolism The arms of Denmark and Greece, represent the Duke of Edinburgh's familial lineage. The arms of the City of Edinburgh represent Philip's dukedom. The naval crown collar alludes to the Duke's naval career. Previous versions From 1947 to 1949: "Arms of Greece surmounted by an inescutcheon of the arms of Denmark; and over all in the first quarter the arms of Princess Alice, daughter of Queen Victoria, viz, the Royal Arms differenced with a label of three points argent, the middle point charged with a rose gules and each of the others with an ermine spot. The shield is encircled by the Garter and ensigned with a princely coronet of crosses pattée and fleurs-de-lis, above which is placed a barred helm affronte, and thereon the crest; out of a ducal coronet or, a plume of five ostrich feathers alternately sable and argent. The supporters are, dexter, the figure of Hercules proper, and sinister, a lion queue fourche ducally crowned or, gorged with a naval coronet azure."[143]

Issue

Ancestry

Philip is a great-grandson of Christian IX of Denmark, and as such belongs in male line to the Danish House of Glücksburg, originally a cadet branch of the House of Oldenburg, which held several thrones and provided consorts to rulers of Russia and Great Britain in the 19th and 20th centuries.

In 1993, scientists were able to confirm the identity of the remains of several members of Empress Alexandra of Russia's family, more than seventy years after their massacre in 1918, by comparing their mitochondrial DNA to living matrilineal relatives, including Prince Philip, her maternal grandnephew. Philip, Alexandra and her children are all descended from Princess Alice of the United Kingdom, the daughter of Queen Victoria, through a purely female line.^[146]

Portrayals in film and literature

Philip has been portrayed by several actors including Stewart Granger (The Royal Romance of Charles and Diana, 1982), Christopher Lee (Charles & Diana: A Royal Love Story, 1982), David Threlfall (The Queen's Sister, 2005), James Cromwell (The Queen, 2006), In The Crown (2016 onwards), he has been portrayed by Matt Smith and Finn Elliot and he will be played by Tobias Menzies in future episodes.^[148]

Prince Philip appears as a fictional character in Nevil Shute's novel In the Wet (1952), Paul Gallico's novel Mrs. 'Arris Goes to Moscow, Tom Clancy's novel Patriot Games, and Sue Townsend's novel The Queen and I.^[149] A fictionalised Philip (in his capacity as a World War II naval officer) is also a minor character in John Birmingham's Axis of Time series of alternate history novels.

Bibliography

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  Selected Speeches – 1948–55 (1957, revised paperback edition published by Nabu Press in 2011) .mw-parser-output cite.citationfont-style:inherit.mw-parser-output qquotes:"""""""'""'".mw-parser-output code.cs1-codecolor:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registrationcolor:#555.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration spanborder-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-errordisplay:none;font-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-errorfont-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-formatfont-size:95%.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-leftpadding-left:0.2em.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-rightpadding-right:0.2em
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  Selected Speeches – 1956–59 (1960)


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  Birds from Britannia (1962) (published in the United States as Seabirds from Southern Waters)
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  Wildlife Crisis with James Fisher (1970)
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  The Environmental Revolution: Speeches on Conservation, 1962–1977 (1978)
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  Competition Carriage Driving (1982) (published in France 1984, second edition 1984, revised edition 1994)
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  A Question of Balance (1982)
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  Men, Machines and Sacred Cows (1984)
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  A Windsor Correspondence with Michael Mann (1984)
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  Down to Earth: Collected Writings and Speeches on Man and the Natural World 1961–87 (1988) (paperback edition 1989, Japanese edition 1992)
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  Survival or Extinction: A Christian Attitude to the Environment with Michael Mann (1989)
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  Driving and Judging Dressage (1996)
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  30 Years On, and Off, the Box Seat (2004)
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Forewords to:

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  Royal Australian Navy 1911–1961 Jubilee Souvenir issued by authority of the Department of the Navy, Canberra (1961)


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  The Concise British Flora in Colour by William Keble Martin, Ebury Press/ Michael Joseph (1965)


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  Kurt Hahn by Hermann Röhrs and Hilary Tunstall-Behrens (1970)


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  The Art of Driving by Max Pape (1982)
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• 
  National Maritime Museum Guide to Maritime Britain by Keith Wheatley, (2000)


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  The Royal Yacht Britannia: The Official History by Richard Johnstone-Bryden, Conway Maritime Press (2003)
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  1953: The Crowning Year of Sport by Jonathan Rice, (2003)


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  British Flags and Emblems by Graham Bartram, Tuckwell Press (2004)
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  Chariots of War by Robert Hobson, Ulric Publication (2004)
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  RMS Queen Mary 2 Manual: An Insight into the Design, Construction and Operation of the World's Largest Ocean Liner by Stephen Payne, Haynes Publishing (2014)


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  The Triumph of a Great Tradition: The Story of Cunard's 175 Years by Eric Flounders and Michael Gallagher, Lily Publications (2014)

Notes

References

Citations

Sources

• 
  Alexandra of Yugoslavia (1959). Prince Philip: A Family Portrait. London: Hodder and Stoughton.


• 
  Boothroyd, Basil (1971). Prince Philip: An Informal Biography. New York: McCall.
  ISBN 0-841-50116-5
  


• 
  Brandreth, Gyles (2004). Philip and Elizabeth: Portrait of a Marriage. London: Century.
  ISBN 0-7126-6103-4
  


• Eade, Philip (2011). Prince Philip: The Turbulent Early Life of the Man Who Married Queen Elizabeth II. New York: Henry Holt.
  ISBN 0-805-09544-6
  


• 
  Heald, Tim (1991). The Duke: A Portrait of Prince Philip. London: Hodder and Stoughton.
  ISBN 0-340-54607-7
  


• 
  Lacey, Robert (2002). Royal: Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. London: Little, Brown.
  ISBN 0-316-85940-0
  


• 
  Vickers, Hugo (2000). Alice, Princess Andrew of Greece. London: Hamish Hamilton.
  ISBN 0-241-13686-5
  

External links

• The Duke of Edinburgh at the Royal Family website


• 
  Philip, Duke of Edinburgh at Encyclopædia Britannica
  


• 
  Duke of Edinburgh's profile on BBC
  


• The Duke of Edinburgh's Award


• 
  Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh on IMDb


• 
  In the Words of Prince Philip – slideshow by Life
  


• 
  Newspaper clippings about Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh in the 20th Century Press Archives of the German National Library of Economics (ZBW)