Blog 224: Prince Philip

As we all now know His Royal Highness Prince Phillip the Duke of Edinburgh passed away Friday 9th April 2021 and I thought it was important to address this and have a couple of blogs dedicated to the Duke of Edinburgh. Not only was he part of the royal family but he was Her Majesty’s husband of 73 years, the Queens consort, father to four, grandfather to 8 and great-grandfather to 10 with one more on the way. Prince Phillip was a man of character, He was a man who supported the queen through the death of her parents, her sister, the divorces of three of her four children, the death of her daughter in law Princess Diana, he has helped the queen through the term of 14 prime ministers and ‘quite simply been my strength and stay all these years’ to Her Majesty the Queen.

He was know for his gaffes, for his humour and for his dedication to royal life but he was also known as being a kind father to his four children, an active member of the royal family with 22,191 engagements, 5,493 speeches and being president to 780 organisations before his retirement in 2017. His longest legacy that will remain even after his passing is the Duke of Edinburgh award which helped so many people to use their creative skills and to keep on going even when things got tough. This award was created in 1956 spread to 144 nations and has been awarded to so many young people. I myself completed most of the Duke of Edinburgh Gold award but was unable to finish it because I kept injuring my ankle however some of the lessons I learnt from doing the award have been amazing and will be with me for the rest of my life. Not only was HRH Prince Philip one to lead organisations but he was the one who led his family.

It has been said that although the Queen wore the crown He wore the trousers. Her majesty may have been Queen in so many countries and provinces but Prince Philip was the One who led the family and the one who wanted it to be seen that behind closed doors the royal family was just like any other family. Prince Philip was a very down to earth man who had been rescued by the royal navy when he was an infant, he then went on to join the royal navy giving it up a few years after Her Majesty became queen, after that He was very involved with the royal navy and two of his sons, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward joined their fathers passion and went into the navy. Not only was it his youngest two boys that followed his fathers footsteps but also his only daughter, Princess Anne, that followed in his love of horses and carriage driving that was passed onto his 4th Granddaughter, Lady Louise Windsor, the daughter of Prince Edward.

Over the year Prince Philip has stuck by Her majesty the Queen, he married Her Majesty in 1997 just after the Second World War, they welcomed their first child Prince Charles Philip Arthur George, the Prince of Wales in 1948, a couple of years later in 1950 they welcomed their only daughter Princess Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise the Princess Royal. In 1952 Prince Philip had the devastating news to tell her Majesty that she was now Queen after her fathers death at the age of 56 which came as a shock but at the coronation in 1953 Prince Philip vowed ‘faith and truth I bear to you’ and He has done that throughout His life. He was faithful to her until the very end and even after Her Majestys coronation the couple went on to have two more children Prince Andrew Albert Christian Edward, Duke of York in 1960 and then in 1964 Edward Anthony Richard Louis, Earl of Wessex. Throughout his children’s younger years He was there for them and when 3 our of 4 of them went through divorces he was also there for them.

Through the Duke of Edinburgh’s 99 years on this earth he was Her majesty’s strength and stay, He has the father to the nation, He was a father to four but a friend to many. He made so many people laugh, he helped the queen carry on even through the hardest times but most of all He was a man of God and His faith helped Him through the transition of a navy officer to Her Majesty’s right hand man and someone she could rely on throughout their 73 year marriage. I firmly believe that Prince Philip was someone that we can look up to, he made mistakes but doesn’t every human? He made people laugh but most of all He relied on God and if nothing else we can rejoice in the fact that He is in heaven with His creator and saviour.