Prince Philip’s duty done — after 65 years

Earlier this summer, Prince Harry was remarkably forthright about his future and role in the Royal Family. “Is there any one of the royal family who wants to be king or queen? I don’t think so, but we will carry out our duties at the right time,” he said.

It was an admission to which his blunt-spoken grandfather would agree.

For the past 65 years, Prince Philip has been at Queen Elizabeth’s side accompanying her to ceremonies around the globe, attending state dinners and participating in royal tours. During that same period, Philip has made more than 22,000 public appearances on his own.

On Wednesday, the prince formally bowed out of public life, making a final appearance at an official event before entering what most Canadians would call retirement. He is 96.

It’s been a royal life for Philip but not always the stuff of fairy tales. When his wife became monarch in 1952, he was compelled to leave active military service in Britain. He had reached the rank of commander and enjoyed his career, as well as a measure of privacy and independence. Philip allowed his life to be brought into submission to the Crown, and with that, lost part of his identity.

It was painful. In the early years he expressed frustration he could not even keep his family name, Mountbatten. He was forced by royal proclamation to adopt the Queen’s House of Windsor.

“I am nothing but a bloody amoeba,” Philip is said to have complained. “I am the only man in the country not allowed to give his name to his own children.”

In 1960, a British Order of Council decided those descendants not bearing a royal title could use the surname Mountbatten-Windsor.

But Philip has not shirked his duty for almost seven decades. He is the longest-serving consort of a reigning British monarch. He also is patron of approximately 800 organizations, and has been president of several. Mostly, he has performed his public duty with grace, diligence and humour.Sometimes royal obligations have irked Philip. During a trip to Canada in 1976 he said: “We don’t come here for our health. We can think of other ways of enjoying ourselves.”

And when asked in 1992 what he felt about his life, Philip was even more revealing: “I’d much rather have stayed in the Navy, frankly.”

But he didn’t. And to paraphrase his grandson, Prince Philip carried out his duties at the right time. — Peter Epp