Religious leaders recall prince’s spiritual curiosity
LONDON — Churches in Britain held services on Sunday to remember Prince Philip as people of many religions reflected on a man whose gruff exterior hid a strong personal faith and deep curiosity about others’ beliefs.
Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby led a service of remembrance at Canterbury Cathedral in southeast England for the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, who died on Friday at the age of 99.
Mr Welby, who is set to preside at Prince Philip’s funeral on Saturday at Windsor Castle, led prayers for Prince Philip, also known as the Duke of Edinburgh, and contemplated “a very long life, remarkably led”.
In London’s Westminster Abbey, where Prince Philip married the then-Princess Elizabeth in 1947, Dean of Westminster David Hoyle remembered the former naval officer’s “self-effacing sense of service”.
Most people’s glimpses of Prince Philip in a religious setting were of him beside the queen at commemorative services, or walking to church with the royal family on Christmas Day. But his religious background and interests were more varied than his conventional role might suggest.
Born into the Greek royal family as Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, he was baptized in the Greek Orthodox Church. His father was exiled and his family left Greece when Prince Philip was very young. He became an Anglican when he married Queen Elizabeth, who as queen is supreme governor of the Church of England.