Prince Philip, who often hit headlines in India, retires from public duties

LONDON : Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth’s consort and the nephew of India’s last viceroy Louis Mountbatten, retired from public duties on Wednesday after meeting the Royal Marines in his last engagement after a lifetime at the top of Britain’s royal family.

According to Buckingham Palace, Prince Philip, 96, performed the role of Queen’s consort for 70 years, had 22,219 solo engagements since 1952, delivered 5,496 speeches, 785 organisations had him as a patron, president or member, and 4 million people participated in the Duke of Edinburgh Awards.

Many in India and in the Indian community here remember him for his connect with the country.

The Duke of Edinburgh visited India four times, thrice as the consort of Queen Elizabeth, but hit the headlines during his last visit in 1997 for his comments on the number of casualties in the 1919 Jallianwallah Bagh massacre. India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, received Prince Philip during his first visit in January 1959. He was then better known in New Delhi as the nephew of Louis Mountbatten.

He subsequently accompanied Queen Elizabeth to India in 1961, 1983 and 1997. They toured Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata in 1961, and returned in 1983 for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.