Long life of service leaves big shoes to fill
For three-quarters of a century the Duke of Edinburgh has dedicated his life to helping others, from service in the war to supporting charities, write Robert Mendick and Patrick Sawer.
The Duke of Edinburgh’s retirement, announced to the Royal household on Thursday, marks the end of an astonishing career. Over the course of more than three-quarters of a century, Prince Philip has devoted his working life to public service.
He fought with distinction during the war, mentioned in despatches having contributed to the defeat of the Italian navy; founded two of the world’s mostfeted and best-known charities and sat as patron or president on almost 800 other bodies. The Duke, born in Greece, toured Britain and the world, banging the drum for his adopted country. It is estimated that he has undertaken 22,191 solo engagements in the UK alone and embarked on more than 637 solo visits overseas to 143 countries. Countless others have been undertaken as consort to The Queen. Buckingham Palace said yesterday he had delivered 5493 speeches and written 14 books.
It is hard to think of any other public servant - bar, one supposes, his wife - who has done more. At the age of 95 (and due to turn 96 in a little over a month’s time), Prince Philip has decided to bow out at the end of the summer, but not before completing a tireless diary of events that even now puts the younger royals to shame.
Born into the Greek royal family - his grandfather was assassinated and his father forced into exile when Philip was still a baby - he showed a commitment to public service even before he would marry into the British monarchy.
Maybe it was already in his royal DNA. But when Philip left Gordonstoun, where he was head boy, in 1938, the school’s founder and headmaster Kurt Hahn wrote in his penultimate glowing report: ‘‘Prince Philip is universally trusted, liked and respected. He has the greatest sense of service of all the boys in the school. [He is] a born leader but will need the exacting demands of a great service to do justice to himself.’’
Hahn, a German Jew who had fled his homeland having been arrested and then released by the Nazis, was a huge influence on Philip’s life. Hahn, who died in 1974, had been concerned with the ‘‘decline of modern youth’’ and pinpointed antidotes, such as fitness training, expeditions and projects to fix the problem.
It was a philosophy that would leave a lasting impression on the young prince. Hahn would found the Outward Bound Trust in 1941 and Philip would go on to become its chairman and latterly patron.
In time, Prince Philip would found a young people’s charity of his own, the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, which celebrated its 60th anniversary last year. Without hyperbole, it is fair to say it is a charity that has transformed millions of lives.
After Gordonstoun and six weeks shy of his 18th birthday, Prince Philip, who had preferred to become a fighter pilot, joined the Royal Naval College at Dartmouth in May 1938, charting a course for a career in the Royal Navy.
When war broke out, Philip, much to his own frustration, was barred from the fighting due to his status as a ‘‘neutral foreigner’’. When Greece finally entered the war in 1940, Philip served in the battleship Valiant, bombarding the Libyan coast and coming under attack from German dive bombers.
His cousin, King George II of Greece, awarded him the War Cross for his efforts in the Battle of Cape Matapan, during which a number of Italian ships were sunk or severely damaged. Admiral Cunningham mentioned him in despatches for his skill in handling the searchlights. The battleship’s captain recorded that ‘‘thanks to his alertness and appreciation of the situation, we were able to sink in five minutes two eight-inch-gun Italian cruisers’’.
In the Battle of Crete, Valiant was damaged by enemy fire. Philip, who had by then been introduced to the young princess Elizabeth, was for two years assigned to patrols at home of the ‘‘hazardous’’ convoy route between Rosyth and Sheerness before again being posted overseas in 1944 - to the Far East, as first lieutenant in the new destroyer Whelp.
In the summer of 1946, Philip and Elizabeth were engaged and they married a little over a year later on November 20 in Westminster Abbey.
Philip forged ahead with his naval career but King George VI’s ailing health would curtail that. By the time of the coronation, the royal couple had two children and the Duke would inevitably embark on the next stage of his public service career.
In some ways he had nowhere else to turn. During the early years of the Queen’s reign, the Duke was not involved - and was not allowed to become involved - in state affairs. He told friends he had ‘‘done his own thing’’ as a consequence, signing up for work with charities and institutions including the Federation of London Boys’ Clubs, the Royal Yachting Association and the MCC, among others.
In the early days of his marriage, the prince realised that as patron or president, he could help to boost fund raising for worthwhile organisations. Charities also quickly realised the huge benefits of having the dashing prince on board.
By the time he announced his retirement, Philip would still be patron or president of almost 800 charities and other bodies, his interests focused on the environment, industry, sport, education and the military. He is colonel-inchief of eight regiments.
One of his first public roles was to be appointed president of the National Playing Fields Association, an early reflection of his true passions. He would continue in the role for 64 years.
Prince Philip has attended more than 500 Gold Award presentations, and the eponymous charity may prove to be his most lasting legacy.
Not that the government of the day saw it that way when he first proposed setting it up. The then minister of education, Sir David Eccles, replied, upon being informed of the proposition: ‘‘I hear you’re trying to invent something like the Hitler Youth.’’
Given the prince’s war record, it was a terrible slight. Perhaps his other greatest single achievement in public life was to co-found - in pursuit of his other great love for conservation and protecting the environment - the World Wildlife Fund (now known as simply WWF).
Tanya Steele, WWF-UK’s chief executive, said yesterday: ‘‘With his unswerving support WWF has played a key role in securing huge conservation successes while raising awareness of the most pressing issues affecting the future of our planet. These include an increase in wild tiger numbers, [and] the giant panda no longer listed as endangered.’’
His civic duty saw Prince Philip take up prominent roles in sport, not least as President of the International Equestrian Federation from 1964 to 1986 - through which he oversaw equestrian plans for five Olympic Games. He is also patron of no fewer than 20 cricket organisations. The prince has played his part in education, serving as chancellor of the Universities of Cambridge and Edinburgh, among other institutions.
He also took an interest, perhaps surprisingly, in the plight of the ordinary working man. Inspired by overseas visits and a realisation that working and living conditions were often less than adequate he set up the Commonwealth Study Conference, first held in Oxford in 1956, to study ‘‘the human aspects of industrial issues across Commonwealth countries’’.
There is also a deep fondness for engineering, sparked by his time as a naval cadet, when he would have to carry out basic mechanical tasks aboard ship. He is a Senior Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering as well as 24 other engineering bodies and only last year praised the vital work of engineers, saying that ‘‘everything not invented by God is invented by an engineer’’.
It had dawned on him in the aftermath of the war that engineers were vital in getting Britain back on its feet.
‘‘It seemed to me that the thing that really needed encouragement was manufacturing, which was always dependent on engineering, to try and recover from the war,’’ he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. ‘‘We were completely skint, seriously badly damaged. It seemed to me the only way we were going to recover a sort of viability was through engineering.’’
Famously, Philip travelled about London in an electricpowered taxi, an innovator ahead of his time. That may also help to explain his patronage of the Eccentric Club, whose original members, when it was founded in the 18th century, promised to celebrate ‘‘virtues which are getting rare and eccentric’’.
There are other areas in which his civic duty has shone through. He has worked hard to maintain and improve the fabric of the royal estate, another legacy that will outlive him.
He was instrumental in converting the chapel to the picture gallery at Buckingham Palace, among other improvements, and is said to be a force behind the planting of avenues of trees, and the creation of borders and water gardens in the royal palaces. He is also a keen oil painter and again belying his image as a gaffe-prone vulgarian - a remarkable reader.
Friends have described his library at Buckingham Palace as deeply impressive, containing some 11,000 books, many of them on the subjects dear to his heart including religion, conservation and sport.
He was patron, for example, of Book Aid International for the past 50 years, a charity which works with libraries in communities where access to books is limited. Prince Philip has been lobbying for their cause ever since signing up in 1966. As recently as March 21, he attended an event at St James’s Palace ‘‘for an evening celebrating the power of books to change lives’’.
The charity was one of many to pay its tribute yesterday, on learning the Duke was retiring. ‘‘We have had the enormous privilege of having his Royal Highness’ support at many events over the years,’’ said Book Aid International in a statement.
Other charities showed their appreciation and affection.
Robert Meadowcroft, chief executive of Muscular Dystrophy UK, said: ‘‘Prince Philip has been our dedicated patron for over 50 years. We cannot thank him enough for his active support, which has been a precious asset in the fight against muscle-wasting conditions.
‘‘He had the kindness and foresight to lend his backing to a charity focused on what was then a little-known, poorly understood condition. The Duke’s backing was an immense encouragement then, as it has remained to this day.’’
Andy Clements, chief executive of the British Trust for Ornithology, said: ‘‘The Duke of Edinburgh has helped put us on the map. We thank him for his support and wish him a happy and bird-filled retirement.’’
There have been famous charities - the British Heart Foundation - and more obscure organisations the Accrington Camera Club in Lancashire - that have benefited from his commitment.
The visits up and down the country and, of course, abroad have had a remarkable impact. The Duke of Edinburgh will carry on being a patron but he will not make the trips he did. Other, younger members of the Royal family will step into his shoes. They are remarkable shoes to fill.
- Telegraph Group