We’re so happy Pa’s better, says grateful Charles in Athens
HE MAY have been thousands of miles away in Greece this week, but Prince Charles’s thoughts were clearly closer to home — for I can reveal that HRH had a private meeting with the Mayor of Athens which dwelt on the welfare of the Duke of Edinburgh.
My royal source tells me that following a traditional exchange of gifts, the Mayor of Athens Kostas Bakoyannis and Prince Charles exchanged poignant words. After the mayor passed on his best wishes to the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Charles thanked him and replied: ‘It really is wonderful that he is better.’
Prince Philip, 99, is said to be in good spirits after spending 28 nights in hospital — his longest ever stay — and is recuperating at Windsor Castle.
Charles spoke movingly of his close family ties to the country and talked of the ‘quite a bit of Greek blood that’s flowing round me’ — a reference to his paternal grandfather, Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark.
Philip was born a prince of Greece and Denmark, allegedly on the kitchen table of his family home, Mon Repos, on the Greek island of Corfu, in 1921. However, he was exiled from the country when he was a child. After being educated in France, Germany and the UK, he joined the Royal Navy in 1939, aged 18. Before his engagement to Princess Elizabeth in 1947, he abandoned his Greek and Danish titles.
On his visit, Prince Charles talked about an old photo of his father as a child dressed up as an Evzone guard, which he liked so much he had given a framed copy to the Presidential Guard in Athens.
Prince Charles was presented by the Mayor with a replica of a 1790s engraving depicting a polo match taking place on the ground below the Acropolis, and was also given the country’s highest distinction — the Gold Medal of Honour. ‘I didn’t realise, even at my age, I’d actually win a gold medal, so I’m even more grateful,’ the Prince, 72, joked.