SPECIAL TRIBUTE
THE DUKE SAW HIS SOLE JOB ‘WAS TO NEVER LET HER DOWN’ AND HIS FAMILY LOVED HIM FOR IT
Prince Philip often described himself as “the world’s most experienced plaque unveiler”. A master of the self-deprecating crack, he once told an aide, “I know my place – two paces behind the Queen.”
But he was massively underselling himself. Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, who died on April 9 aged 99, might have had to lag behind his wife for reasons of protocol, but out of the public eye, he was her rock, and a large part of the reason she has been able to do such an astounding job as monarch for so long.
Philip’s first ever private secretary, Mike Parker, once revealed, “He told me the first day he offered me my job that his job, first, second and last, was never to let her down.”
And he never did.The Queen, 94, announced the death of the man she fell in love with – when she was just a teenager and to whom she had been married to for 73 years – via a statement from Buckingham Palace. It read,
“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 mourning his loss.”
Charles, the Prince of Wales, also paid tribute to his “dear Papa” saying that Philip had given the most remarkable, devoted service to the Queen, his family, to the country and to the Commonwealth.
“As you can imagine, my family and I miss my father enormously,” he said. “He was a much loved and
appreciated figure and apart from anything else, I can imagine he would be so deeply touched by the number of other people here and elsewhere around the world and the Commonwealth, who also, I think, share our loss and our sorrow.
“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 from that point of view we are, my family, deeply grateful for all that. It will sustain us in this particular loss and at this particularly sad time. Thank you.”
Here in New Zealand, flags on Government buildings and naval vessels were flown at half-mast. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Philip would be fondly remembered for the encouragement he gave so many young New Zealanders through The Duke of Edinburgh’s Hillary Award.
“New Zealanders will also remember the Duke of Edinburgh’s enormous support for Her Majesty The Queen.”
Philip gave up a promising naval career to immerse himself in royal duties and played a key role in the development of the modern monarchy in Britain. He was the longest-serving consort in British history and the oldest partner of a reigning monarch, being by the Queen’s side throughout her 69-year reign. He was just two months away from his 100th birthday in June.
Philip had enjoyed good
health right up until he was in his 90s. Then he was hospitalised several times, including for a blocked coronary artery in 2011 and a bladder infection in 2012.
In September 2017, aged 96, he stepped down from public life. He had carried out over 22,000 solo engagements and given 5493 speeches, not bad for someone who once described himself as “a discredited Balkan prince of no particular merit or distinction”.
After retiring from public duties, he spent most of his time at Windsor or at Wood Farm, a small residence on the Sandringham estate, where he read, painted watercolours and wrote letters.
After the outbreak of coronavirus last year, Philip lived in strict isolation, most recently at Windsor Castle in what was nicknamed “HMS Bubble”. One of the last times he was seen with his family was at the private wedding of his granddaughter Princess Beatrice to Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi in July 2020.
The last official photo of him, released in November last year, was a touching image showing him and the Queen reading a handmade card sent to them by their greatgrandchildren Prince George, seven, Princess Charlotte, five, and Prince Louis, two, for their 73rd wedding anniversary.
On February 16, it was announced that Philip had been admitted to London’s private King Edward VII Hospital as a precautionary measure because he was feeling unwell. It was later revealed he was being treated for an infection. After two weeks, he was transferred to St Bartholomew’s, an NHS hospital specialising in cardiac care, where he underwent an operation to treat a pre-existing heart condition.
He was then transferred back to King Edward VII to recuperate before returning home to Windsor on March 16. He had spent 28 days in hospital, during which time the Queen was unable to see him because of pandemic restrictions.
Royal insiders say in his final weeks at Windsor, Philip was calmer and quieter. On the days when he felt strong enough to venture out of his room, he dressed casually in a shirt and jumper, pressed trousers and polished shoes to doze in a chair outside in the sunshine.
His failing health was a sign that his life was drawing to a close, but a palace source says he was determined not to go back to hospital.
In the end, COVID had a silver lining – the restrictions imposed on the UK meant Elizabeth and Philip were able to spend more time than usual together in what turned out to be his last days.
“There were moments of great lucidity and joyful togetherness,” says the insider. “For the Queen, that will have been a saving grace, that they were together at the end.”
‘My dear Papa was a very special person’