99 today... the indomitable Duke still standing tall
Quiet birthday lunch for no-fuss Philip
HE has been her rock during eight tumultuous decades – and today Prince Philip celebrates his locked down 99th birthday with the Queen.
To mark the milestone, they posed for an official snap at Windsor Castle.
It is a rare glimpse of the Duke who retired from public life three years ago and is reluctant to allow fuss to be made of his birthdays.
Philip was pictured beside the monarch in a double breasted jacket and Household Division tie.
The 94-year-old Queen, who once described him as her “strength and stay”, wore a dress designed by her assistant Angela Kelly with the Cullinan V heart-shaped diamond brooch first worn by Queen Mary
Today the couple – who have been married for 72 years – are expected to enjoy a quiet lunch and catch up with the family on video calls.
They have enjoyed daily lunches together since basing themselves at the castle during the pandemic – which has given them a chance to spend more time with one another than they have had for several years.
The Queen and Philip are surrounded by a reduced household of around 20 staff in an operation nicknamed HMS Bubble.
The Duke has spent much of his retirement at Wood Farm on the Sandringham estate in Norfolk while the Queen carried on with her duties at Buckingham Palace orWindsor.
They have spoken every day on the phone yet often gone for weeks without seeing each other.
But they were reunited in Windsor for their own safety on March 19 after Philip was flown there by helicopter ahead of lockdown.
Joe Little, managing editor of Majesty magazine, said: “This must be the longest they’ve been under the same roof for many years.
“But it’s an opportunity for them in their later years to reconnect. It is the perfect royal cocooning.
“I suppose they are opposites in many ways but clearly the chemistry has worked.”
They wed in Westminster Abbey in 1947 and he gave up a promising naval career to be by her side as she was crowned in 1953 at 27.
Philip is famous for his gaffes, once telling a policewoman in a bulletproof vest she looked like a suicide bomber and asking a successful Aboriginal entrepreneur “Do you still throw spears at each other?”
He now keeps himself busy reading, writing and painting. In April he issued a rare statement to praise key workers and those making sure that essential services are kept running.
His wife works most days but has been relaxing by riding her ponies in the castle grounds.