Prince Philip was not orphaned as a child

Re: “New prince is Louis Arthur Charles,” April 28. The article mentions that Prince Philip was orphaned in his childhood and that Earl Louis Mountbatten of Burma, his uncle, acted as his parent.

This is incorrect. Both of Philip’s parents were alive during this time. His mother was institutionalized in Switzerland with mental-health issues. His father was living on the Riviera with a mistress. They were still married, but had in effect separated and remained so until their deaths.

Philip was brought up with the help of many of his relatives.

Philip’s father died after the Second World War. His mother moved to Athens, where she established a religious order called the Order of Martha and Mary. She attended the wedding of Philip and Princess Elizabeth in a regular gown, but at the Queen’s coronation she wore the habit she had designed herself. She was subsequently honoured by the State of Israel because she rescued a Jewish family from the Nazis by hiding them in her apartment for the duration of the Second World War.

After the military coup in Greece, when the monarchy was dethroned, Philip rescued her and brought her to Buckingham Palace to live. She could always be recognized by staff in advance of her presence by the strong smell of her cigarettes. She lived there in obscurity until her death.

In a guest book of his uncle, Louis Mountbatten, during these rackety years, Philip once signed his name and for his home, he wrote: “No fixed address.” Margot Todd Victoria