Royal Family use social media to send their birthday wishes to 99-year-old Duke

HE MAY have stepped away from public life, but the Duke of Edinburgh’s 99th birthday was marked yesterday with a wealth of messages from other members of the Royal Family.

Prince Philip celebrated the milestone by spending the day with the Queen at Windsor Castle,

where the couple have been staying during the lockdown.

The Royal Family have all been staying apart during the coronavirus pandemic, and communicating via Zoom video calls, FaceTime and by phone, as they were expected to do for Philip’s birthday.

Yesterday, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s Kensington Royal social media account tweeted: “Wishing a very happy 99th Birthday to His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh!”

The post included an image of William with his grandfather as they watched the Rugby World

Cup final at Twickenham in 2015, and one of Kate with Philip at the Patron’s Lunch celebrations for the Queen’s 90th birthday in 2016.

The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall also wished the Duke a “very happy 99th birthday”.

Their Clarence House account shared an image of a young Charles with his father in a motor boat at Cowes in 1957, and another of them together, smiling at one another, in Poundbury, Dorset, in 2016.

The Duke famously does not like a fuss, so his birthday celebrations in the sanctuary of the Berkshire castle were low key.

Philip was photographed with the Queen to mark his birthday, in the sunshine at Windsor Castle, where they have been staying for the past 12 weeks. The portrait was the first public image of the Duke for nearly six months – he was last seen leaving hospital on Christmas Eve.

Philip retired from official duties in 2017 after decades of public service. He was born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark on the island of Corfu on June 10, 1921, and has been married to the Queen for more than 70 years.