Prince Philip turns 99
Prince Philip celebrated his birthday in isolation with the queen and their special bond is stronger than ever
ONE year short of a century makes him the oldest living royal male in history and the longest-serving royal consort ever. All hail Prince Philip, the man who’s been by Queen Elizabeth’s side for over 72 years of marriage, standing by as she dealt with ups and downs, births and deaths, divorces and disappointments.
And now, at the ripe old age of 99, Philip and the queen are enjoying what’s been described as one of the most special times of their long life together: spending their twilight years in quiet contentment, side by side.
The coronavirus pandemic has brought the couple – who’ve often been apart because of the monarch’s relentless duties – together at Windsor Castle.
The Duke of Edinburgh, who’d been based at Sandringham since retiring from royal duty in 2017, joined his wife at her favourite residence when the UK went into lockdown and isolation has seen them sharing their days once more.
When the day of his 99th birthday dawned, Philip celebrated in low-key style with a quiet lunch with Her Majesty at the castle. As a no-frills kind of man, it probably suited him quite well.
“Prince Philip has always disliked being fussed over,” royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams says.
“There would’ve been no special plans to mark the occasion other than the two of them lunching together. Though the duke would, one feels, appreciate some form of celebration when he turns 100 next year.”
“The royals don’t really celebrate birthdays without a nought,” royal author Robert Lacey adds.
For his 80th, the duke had three events, including a gala evening at London’s Royal Albert Hall and a luncheon with 450 guests. His 90th was marked by a service at St George’s Chapel in Windsor followed by a reception.
“This year the family would’ve doubtless been in contact via video link or telephone,” Christopher Warwick, another royal expert, says.
“But given his very advanced years I can’t think that anything more taxing would’ve been planned.” Both the queen and the duke enjoy seeing their family, even if it’s on a screen, Fitzwilliams says.
“The duke has always been a moderniser and is fond of technology. He might even take a mischievous delight in any technical faults that occur during these calls.”
To mark the duke’s 99th birthday, a photograph was released of him and the queen in the grounds of Windsor Castle.
Eagle-eyed royal watchers were quick to notice the special accessory Her Majesty donned for the occasion: pinned to her pretty floral dress was the glittering Cul linan V diamond brooch, a subtle tribute to her enduring love for her husband.
The heirloom, which once belonged to her grandmother, Queen Mary, is one of the queen’s most treasured items. It features a heart-shaped diamond cut from the world’s largest diamond, the SA-mined Cullinan diamond. She brings it out only on very special occasions – and this was one of those.
It’s one of the few times Philip has been seen since leaving a London hospital on 24 December, where he spent a few days battling an unspecified “pre-existing condition”, a palace statement said.
Yet while he’s had a series of health challenges over the years – including a blocked coronary artery in 2011 and a hip replacement in 2018 – the former royal naval commander looked well in his latest photo op.
Insiders say he’s feeling better than ever. “The secret is that he still does everything he’s previously done, but slower,” his cousin Lady Myra Butter (93) said recently.
‘He’s such an important ingredient in her success and happiness’
BIRTHDAY tributes flooded in for the father of four, grandfather of eight and great-grandfather of eight. Prince William and Kate were among the first to wish him well on social media, sharing a message on their Instagram account along with a throwback photo of William (37)
(From previous page) where he’s sharing a joke with his grandfather at the Rugby World Cup in 2015.
His eldest son, Prince Charles (71), took a walk down memory lane, posting a black-and-white snapshot of him and his dad on a speedboat on the Isle of Wight in 1957.
Granddaughter Princess Eugenie (30) wished her grandpa as well as “all grandparents celebrating birthdays in lockdown”.
Prince Harry (35) and Meghan (38) opted not to post a public tribute, but are believed to have made a video call from their base in Los Angeles.
Philip would’ve spent the day indulging in his favourite pastimes: reading, writing and walking. And he would’ve relished spending uninterrupted time with his wife, insiders say.
“This must be the longest they’ve been under the same roof for many years, I’d say,” says Joe Little, managing editor of Majesty magazine. “It’s an opportunity for them in their later years to reconnect. It’s the perfect royal cocooning.”
The duke didn’t want to isolate on his own at Sandringham, Lacey adds.
The queen (94) is said to be enjoying the time spent with her husband, who captured her heart when she just a girl.
The two met on the eve of World War 2 when she was 13 and he a handsome 18-year-old cadet at the naval college in
Dartmouth. Sparks flew and they exchanged letters for several years before officially getting engaged on 9 July 1947. They wed on 20 November 1947 at Westminster Abbey when Elizabeth was 21.
After their honeymoon, Elizabeth reportedly told her mother how at ease they felt together. “Philip is an angel,” she wrote. “He’s so kind and thoughtful and living with him and having him around all the time is just perfect.”
He reportedly helped her conquer her shyness after she came to the throne in 1952, in much the same way her mother helped Elizabeth’s father, King George, with his stammer.
On their golden wedding anniversary in 1997, the queen paid tribute to him by saying, “He has, quite simply, been my strength and stay all these years”.
His presence at Windsor Castle will be important to her now, Lacey says.
“He’ll be supporting her morally in the way that he always has. She’ll value that companionship much more than if he were at the other end of a telephone.”
His wicked sense of humour is also something the monarch enjoys and it’s helped keep her spirits up during lockdown, Little says.
“He makes her laugh – he’s got a slightly naughty sense of humour, a sense of the ridiculous that keeps her amused.”
Little recalls a famous incident when Philip’s cousin, Patricia Mountbatten, commented on the queen’s flawless complexion, to which the duke reportedly quipped, “Yes, and she’s like that all over.”
“He’s such an important ingredient in her success and happiness,” Little adds.
Phil Dampier, author of Prince Philip: Wise Words and Golden Gaffes, agrees that the two have the most enormously strong partnership.
“I think a lot of the strength in the relationship comes from his independent mind. He’s not your conventional loveydovey husband.”
The duke was absent from the queen’s side at the recent scaled-down Trooping the Colour ceremony.
The annual event, which honours the monarch’s birthday, is usually held amid much fanfare in the streets of London, with the royal family gathering on the balcony of Buckingham Palace to watch a military parade followed by a fly-by by the Royal Air Force.
Due to the pandemic, however, a decision was taken to hold a much smaller ceremony at Windsor Castle, with soldiers observing social distancing rules.
“The queen was alone at the ceremony – there were no other spectators,” Fitzwilliams says.
“It’s likely the duke, who’s participated for many years, will have watched out of sight, most likely from a window. Since he’s retired it’s up to him whether or not he wishes to attend a public event.”
‘He has, quite simply, been my strength and stay all these years’
WITH lockdown restrictions beginning to ease in Britain, it remains to be seen how long the royal couple will remain at Windsor Castle. While the pandemic will make some public events impossible, insiders say the queen has no plans to step back from public life.
“She wants to return to public duties as soon as she possibly can,” a royal source says.
“She can’t be seen to be going against official government advice but it’s fair to say she’s looking forward to getting back to normal.”
“The idea that we won’t see the queen in public again is certainly not the case,” a second source says. “The queen is planning to come back to work and when she does, I think we’ll see her work harder than ever.
“The idea that she’ll reign from a screen is not Her Majesty’s view. She very much believes in being seen.”
Both Philip and the queen will have drawn comfort from the fact that the coronavirus crisis has seen a surge in the popularity of the royal family, particularly when it comes to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their children, Prince George (6), Princess Charlotte (5) and Prince Louis (2).
Thanks to a host of virtual appearances, the Cambridges have been stepping up more than ever to show the commitment of The Firm to helping their country during these tough times.
The fact that the royal family has to a large degree been letting their guard down has worked in their favour, says royal expert Katie Nicholl. “And that’s a direct result of what we’re going through.
“It’s uplifting for Britain to see what the future of the royal family is going to look like. The royal family has gone to great lengths not to be seen to be aloof or distant or unrelatable.”
In a rare public statement in April, Prince Philip spoke about how moved he was by the efforts of the emergency services and key workers across the UK.
“On behalf of those of us who remain safe and at home I want to thank all key workers who ensure the infrastructure of our life continues; the staff and volunteers working in food production and distribution, those keeping postal and delivery services going and those ensuring the rubbish continues to be collected.”
Signed Philip, it was his first public comment in three years.
Royal author Ingrid Seward says it was very unusual to hear from the duke, who’s kept a low profile since his retirement.
“This isn’t about Philip trying to reach out to the nation, he leaves that to the queen. This is about supporting the charities he’s affiliated with.
“He’s always been interested in science – it’s always been a passion and he’ll be very interested by it all and the rush to try and find a vaccine. He’ll be watching everything with keen interest.”
Yet it’s family the duke cherishes most now – and insiders say he’ll be particularly pleased that his relationship with his eldest, Prince Charles, has improved vastly in recent years. When Charles had a brush with the coronavirus earlier this year, his father was concerned, royal aides say, and kept in touch with his son. The two have always had a complicated relationship and the duke was hard on the sensitive Charles growing up, favouring his youngest son, Prince Edward. Theirs was always a distant relationship but they appear to be on better terms in their later years. “Nonetheless, one can imagine that the inability to hug one another isn’t something the duke will especially regret – even on his birthday,” royal biographer Philip Eade says. “He’s reticent when it comes to such displays of affection. It is, in some ways, far easier to envisage him ‘doing the FaceTime’, as he calls it.” The duke may be getting on in years, he adds, but he’s still got it in spades.