A full life devoted to public duty
THE death of Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, at the age of 99 is not a shocking event after a full life but one which is a sombre and resonant occasion for us all.
The Queen’s consort was a man devoted to public duty for the 73 years of his marriage to Elizabeth Windsor.
But first and foremost this is a personal event, a death in the family. The Queen has lost her husband, her “strength and stay all these years”, children have lost their father, grandfather and great grandfather.
The Queen and her family will have a profound sense of grief which all bereaved families can share.
In this age of Covid, they will have had to cope with the Duke’s illness and death under socially-distanced rules in common with thousands of other families who have been separated from their loved ones. Death, the great leveller again.
Such a long life, and such a long public partnership in marriage, is itself remarkable. His devotion to duty, despite the reputation for being a sometimes distant father and husband, was both dignified and commendable.
His proud title as Duke of Edinburgh gave him a Scots link and he is said to have revelled in Balmoral, the Queen’s Aberdeenshire home.
His Duke of Edinburgh award scheme, which four million youngsters have taken part in, leaves a national and international legacy.
But he will also be remembered for the frank, sometimes rude and brusque attitude of his age and his class.
These attributes either endeared or appalled people, depending on their own age and attitudes, but there is no doubt some remarks were inappropriate regardless of the time.
The Duke could have lived out days of an anonymous accompaniment to the Queen but Philip had the rugged, energetic presence which he somehow contained while living his life around hers. He will be missed from the stage.
The Duke’s life was living history and his death, at a public level, extinguishes one the last candles of the war generation to whom we owe our freedoms and marks the twilight of the Elizabethan monarchy.
For 69 years on the throne the Queen had Prince Philip by her side, and while he gave extraordinary public service, it is his unwavering support and her personal loss which will be most keenly felt.