Prince Philip, 19212021:
He was born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, became a brilliant British naval officer, but chose love and a life of unfailing public service as the Queen’s devoted consort.
a life and love remembered
There have been a few moments in the past few years when the House of Windsor and people across Britain and the Commonwealth universally held their breath as Prince Philip tussled with potentially life-threatening illnesses, but the Queen’s unwavering consort seemed to be invincible. So when the news came of his death – even though this lion of a man had recently undergone heart surgery and was just two-months-and-a-day shy of his 100th birthday – the world was shocked, then terribly sad and overcome with an affection that grew as the myriad details of his life unfurled.
It was midday in the UK on Friday April 9 when Buckingham Palace released the statement no one was expecting. In the days that followed, many felt it heralded the end of an era. “It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen announces the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle. The Royal Family join with people around the world in mourning his loss.”
Immediately global media paused to deliver hour after hour, day after day of heartfelt tributes to this extraordinary man, reminiscences from a life of duty, service, action, his larrikin humour discussed, his unparalleled character regaled.
Speaking on behalf of the royal family, Philip’s first born, Prince Charles, was noticeably humbled by the public reaction. “My dear Papa was a very special person who I think above all else would have been amazed by the reaction and the touching things that have been said about him and … we are, my family, deeply grateful for all that. It will sustain us in this particular loss and at this particularly sad time.”
Comments from the Prince's
“He has, quite simply, been my strength and stay all these years, and I, and his whole family, and this and many other countries, owe him a debt greater than he would ever claim, or we shall ever know.”
– HM Queen Elizabeth II
siblings followed. Losing Philip had left “a huge void” in the Queen's life, said Prince Andrew. “It has been a terrible shock,” added Prince Edward. And in an unusually personal statement, Princess Anne shared, “My father has been my teacher, my supporter and my critic, but mostly it is his example of a life well lived and service freely given that I most wanted to emulate."
Prince consort
Throughout his life, Prince Philip was seen as the ultimate consort, the crisp, assiduous husband-inattendance, whose role was to support the Queen in public and cherish her in private. It was a job he did astonishingly well, but his success concealed a little-understood twist at the heart of the royal marriage.
Philip’s toughness was no act. Duty was everything to him, and his dedication to the Queen and the monarchy was absolute. Yet the perception of the Prince as an unyielding royal hard-case, harsh of word and scornful of human weakness, was never entirely true.
For the real Philip was the product of a traumatic childhood which, though he tried hard to suppress, ultimately shaped his psyche. He could be tricky and prickly but also incredibly compassionate, and his legacy will be as the outsider who painstakingly modernised the dusty House of Windsor.
Raised in exile, Philip saw his parents’ marriage disintegrate. His father drifted into a dissolute life of gambling and drinking. His mother left to join a religious order and was later committed to an asylum. The family money ran out, and young Philip was passed around among relatives, from school to school and from country to country. It can’t have been easy but Philip endured, his energy and humour driving his path.
He eventually reached England at the age of nine, and in some ways he remained a displaced person for the rest of his life. Many years later when an interviewer asked what language he spoke at home, Philip paused and replied: “What do you mean, ‘home’?”
It was only when he fell in love and married the 21-year-old Princess Elizabeth – soon to be Queen of what was still the British Empire – that Philip finally found a real sense of belonging. Marriage gave him a base, a family, a standing in the world and a stability he had never known. In exchange for all this, he vowed to give Elizabeth his complete and unswerving loyalty.
“He told me when he offered me my job,” remembered Mike Parker, an Australian naval officer who became Philip’s first private secretary, “that his own job – first, second and last – was never to let the Queen down.”
To say that the Prince delivered on this commitment barely describes the enormity of his contribution to the Queen’s long, successful reign.
Lonely childhood
Philip was born on the Greek island of Corfu in June, 1921, the fifth child and only son of Prince Andrea of Greece and Denmark and Princess Alice of Battenberg. The family’s grand lineage – they were closely connected to all the noble dynasties of Europe – disguised its collapsing fortunes. Before Philip was 18 months old, the Greek government was overthrown in a military coup – the result of a disastrous war with Turkey – and his father sentenced to death, later commuted to “perpetual banishment”, for alleged incompetence in his role as a senior army officer.
Philip’s father’s first cousin, King George V, obligingly supplied a Royal Navy ship to take the family into exile, and baby Philip was journeyed to safety in a cot that the sailors on board had fashioned from an orange box to keep the tot safe. But Andrea’s hopes of his family being allowed to settle in London were dashed by political complications, and they were effectively dumped in the small, dusty port of Brindisi at the bottom of Italy, “the most dreadful place I have ever been to,” wrote Philip’s older sister, Sophie. They made their way by train to Rome, then to Paris, where they managed to beg temporary quarters from friends.
Of Andrea and Alice’s five children, Philip was the youngest by seven years. He was adored by his sisters, which made their ultimate separation harder to bear. Alice had always been intensely religious, but the family’s traumas appeared to push her over the edge. She took to declaring that she was a saint with healing powers, and the bride of Christ. In 1930 she was interned in a secure psychiatric clinic in Switzerland. This committal effectively destroyed the family unit. Andrea drifted away, eventually
settling in a small seafront flat in Monte Carlo, where he passed his time playing roulette and drinking. He died a lonely, broken figure in 1944.
Philip’s sisters married German princelings and the eight-year-old Philip became the object of a tug-ofwar between relatives. He was sent to live with his maternal relatives, the Mountbattens in England. Then in 1933 the German branch of the family took custody of him, and he was sent to a boarding school in the tiny town of Salem near the Swiss border.
Now, Philip had perhaps his first real stroke of luck. The school was run by Jewish educational pioneer Kurt Hahn, who became a mentor for the young Prince. After Hahn was arrested for taking part in an anti-Hitler protest, he fled Germany for Britain. Within a year he had set up an experimental new school, Gordonstoun, on a remote coastal stretch of Scotland, and it was here that Philip arrived as a pupil – under a complicated family accord – in 1934. Gordonstoun’s tough regime, with its emphasis on self-reliance and personal development, especially in the great outdoors, was the ideal environment for this displaced Prince aching for strong leadership.
The Duke typically denied that his childhood was unhappy. Nor, according to author Gyles Brandreth, could he be induced to utter a single word of reproach against his parents. And at Gordonstoun he began to have a sense of who he was.
Naval excellence
From school Philip joined the Royal Navy. It was as a young seaman that he properly first met the 13-year-old Princess who would become his wife. Elizabeth and her sister, Margaret, were visiting the Royal Naval College at Dartmouth, where Philip was told to show them around. “[Philip] played games with them [Elizabeth and Margaret], jumped over tennis nets, wolfed down platefuls of food and generally romped,” biographer Andrew Marr writes in The Diamond Queen. “Censorious [governess] Crawfie thought Philip had showed off rather too much, but Elizabeth was delighted and she never took her eyes off him. Friends say she never has since.”
Philip and Elizabeth had actually met previously at a royal wedding, but she was younger then. Now the Princess was smitten, putting Philip’s photo up on her bedroom wall.
The Navy was the making of Philip. Here he found his calling. By general consent he was a brilliant, courageous officer, who – had other obligations not arisen – could have gone right to the top. He saw active service in World War II aboard the battleship HMS Valiant, was mentioned in dispatches, and emerged from the war as one of the Navy’s youngest first lieutenants. Furthermore, he had grown up clever and fiendishly handsome – “a goldenhaired Adonis”, as Mike Parker put it.
Princess Elizabeth was a serious and dutiful girl. She had led a sheltered life which afforded almost no scope for unsupervised contact with young men. The court was run according to ancient protocols, one of which was that marriage must serve the strategic interests of the monarchy. Although Philip had acquitted himself well since arriving in Britain, it was hard for anyone to see how this nearpenniless refugee from the raggletaggle ranks of the European aristocracy served the Crown’s interest. Elizabeth had other ideas. According to Henry “Chips” Channon, a chronicler of the UK upper classes, Elizabeth fell in love with Philip on that day in Dartmouth and decided that Philip would be her husband.
What is certain is that by the mid-1940s they were spending a lot of time together, and the court’s misgivings about a marriage were easing. Philip proposed in September 1946 when Princess Elizabeth was just 20. The King, concerned that his daughter was too young, insisted the pair hold off while Elizabeth fulfilled her official duties touring South Africa. But four months later nothing had changed, and on July 9, 1947,
This dashing of cer was the talk of Sydney’s social set.
Elizabeth and Philip announced their official engagement.
Philip formally renounced his
Greek and Danish titles, converted from the Greek Orthodox Church to Anglicanism and took British citizenship under the name Mountbatten. The day before the marriage ceremony, King George VI bestowed the title of His Royal Highness on Philip, and on the morning of the wedding he was created Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Merioneth and Baron Greenwich. The service in Westminster Abbey on November 20, 1947, was broadcast to 200 million people around the world.
Love and marriage
At first, Philip’s life didn’t change greatly. He carried on in the Navy, consolidating his reputation as a talented commander, and took the arrival of the royal couple’s first children, Charles in 1948 and Anne in 1950, in his brisk stride. But in February 1952, while he was travelling with Elizabeth to Australia, via Kenya, news arrived that King George VI, had died from a coronary thrombosis, aged 56. The couple were staying at a game lodge and it was Philip who had to break the news to his wife that she was now Queen. His private secretary Mike Parker, who was with the couple on the tour, later described Prince Philip as looking as if “half the world had dropped on him”.
In that instant, Philip’s entire destiny was reshaped. From being his own man, with a career and prospects, he became a full-time consort. Those who would later complain of Philip’s irascibility and rudeness were almost certainly witnessing the consequences of a man of action forced into an essentially inactive role. He faced up to the inevitable with stoicism, but as he fell into line two steps behind the Queen, smiling gamely and shaking hands, it wasn’t hard to imagine his sense of opportunities lost.
The first thing to go was his naval commission. Philip – like many rootless men – seems to have found a particular comfort among a ship’s company and it has been mooted that he never fully recovered from the loss of his command. Certainly for a while he was inconsolable, falling ill with jaundice, a condition often associated with stress and depression. Once again, it was the Queen’s love and good sense that carried him through. They would be a partnership, she explained, and his role in it was crucial, as he would go on to prove time and time again.
Wide brown land
Prince Philip’s relationship with Australia was a powerful one which matured over decades into deep mutual respect and admiration. He
loved the great outdoors and the Australian down-to-earth conviviality, and visited more than 20 times in his lifetime, sometimes flying the airplane himself (Philip was a skilled pilot presented with his RAF wings in 1953).
His very first visit was before his marriage, in 1940 during World War II. The 18-year-old Philip Mountbatten was a midshipman on the HMS Ramillies when the British battleship sailed into Sydney Harbour. For a couple of weeks this dashing naval officer was the talk of Sydney’s social set, attending dances and parties, playing polo, even trying surfing. When the ship moved on to Melbourne, Philip took time out and headed into the countryside, staying on a sheep station. He adored what he described later as this “perfectly natural life with no frills and no fads”.
In subsequent years Philip was present at key moments in Australia’s history such as the opening of the Melbourne Olympic Games in 1956, the Sydney Opera House in 1973 and the new Parliament House in 1988, and was patron of almost 50 organisations in Australia, including the very popular Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme empowering young people.
Supporting Diana
The softer side of Philip’s nature may have been hard to spot. He made no secret of his disdain for the modern tendency towards gut-spilling and confessionals, and struggled to comprehend the inability of his own children to “stick with it” when their marriages ran into trouble. Yet, in the right circumstances, he could and did show great tenderness and empathy.
When the marriage of Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales, ran into trouble, it was Philip who played the moderator. A remarkable series of letters between him and Diana illustrated the depth of his concern. “Dear Pa,” wrote the Princess in reply to one offer of help, “I was particularly touched by your most recent letter, which proved to me, if I did not already know it, that you really do care. You are very modest about your marriage guidance skills! This last letter of yours showed great understanding and tact, and I hope to be able to draw on your advice in the months ahead, whatever they may bring. With my fondest love, yours Diana.”
Though Philip was a relatively hands-on parent in the children’s early years, Charles and Philip had a difficult relationship largely because their personalities were worlds apart. Philip worried about his son’s resilience for his life ahead and insisted that the young Prince go to Gordonstoun, hoping to toughen up his sensitive son. But Charles hated it and suffered from homesickness and bullying. In later years father and son came together, finding union in among other things their passion for conservation – Philip was the first President of UK’s World Wildlife Fund (now WWF).
Philip knew only too well the unique stresses of the House of Windsor gilded cage, and tried to prepare his children for the rigours of duty. While Her Majesty may be Head of State, Prince Philip was the head of the household, the glue that held the family together. Nevertheless, when it came to the crunch Prince Philip always believed that the interests of the institution of the monarchy must come before those of any individual member. The Queen understood the sincerity of his reasoning and he was her wise counsel throughout his life. “He has,” she said in a tribute during their Golden Wedding anniversary year in 1997, “quite simply, been my strength and stay all these years, and I, and his whole family, and this and many other countries, owe him a debt greater than he would ever claim or we shall ever know.”
In later life, the Duke would cheerfully admit that most people saw him as “a cantankerous old sod”, and his ability to say the wrong thing became almost legendary. The royal press corps revelled in what became known as Philip’s “gaffes”, which were usually an attempt at levity and humour to put members of the public at their ease.
The role of consort had become his life’s work. Hundreds of organisations benefited from his time and energy. Of the inside workings of the royal marriage, far less is known. Displays of affection were not Philip and Elizabeth’s way. “I always wanted to see him put his arms around the Queen and show everyone how much he adored her,” said Mike Parker. “I mentioned it to him a couple of times, but he just gave me a hell of a look.”
Mellow years
In old age he mellowed, if only slightly, and with evidence that he wasn’t wholly indestructible, the public increasingly warmed to him. During the 2012 Diamond Jubilee pageant – admittedly after he had stood, ramrod-straight on the deck of a Thames barge in a rainstorm for four hours – he was taken to hospital. As he left a few days later, a TV reporter asked if he was feeling better. The Duke gave a familiar snort: “I wouldn’t be coming out if I wasn’t,” he said.
In the ensuing years, the Duke’s health wavered and he spent his 92nd birthday in hospital. Then in May
“The Duke will be long held in our regard and with affection for his constant support for Her Majesty The Queen through their marriage – a true partnership.” – Dame Quentin Bryce
2017, Buckingham Palace announced that Prince Philip would retire from official royal duties. He was 96 when he stood back. Talking to the BBC, Gyles Brandreth said of his friend: “It’s 70 years this autumn since he became the consort of Princess Elizabeth and then the Queen – so, after 70 years, I think he feels probably he has done his stuff.”
In one of his final official engagements – opening a stand at Lord’s Cricket Ground, Prince Philip joked that he was the “world’s most experienced plaque unveiler”. And the numbers certainly backed up his claim. In his time as a working royal, he attended over 22,000 solo engagements and delivered more than 5000 speeches.
Prince Philip continued enjoying an active outdoor life, also driving until on January 17, 2019, a rather shocking car crash – as he pulled out of a driveway from the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk – left the Duke initially trapped after his Land Rover tipped over. Philip escaped injury, but two female occupants in the other vehicle required hospital treatment. The Prince handed in his driving licence.
When he was admitted first to King Edward VII’s Hospital on February 16 following an infection, and then transferred to St Bartholomew’s Hospital for an existing heart condition, it seemed the Prince’s health was failing – but when he was released from hospital to join his wife the Queen back at Windsor, many believed he had cheated death again. Alas, this was the final curtain.
As The Weekly goes to press, the House of Windsor is preparing for a COVID-induced scaled-back funeral. It will be a family affair with just 30 inside Windsor’s St George’s Chapel, which ironically is probably how Prince Philip would have liked it, having asked for no fuss.
Former Governor-General Dame Quentin Bryce is one of many Australians who knew the Prince well and says he will be greatly missed. “I have immense respect and admiration for his commitment to service and dedication to duty. The Duke will be long held in our regard and with affection for his constant support for Her Majesty The Queen through their marriage – a true partnership. And who could resist his droll sense of humour …” His legacy will live on.