HIS LIFE IN KEY MOMENTS
June 10, 1921 Born in Corfu to Prince Andrew of Greece and Princess Alice of Battenberg. Sixth in line to the Greek throne.
Sept 1922 Philip’s family is banished from Greece after Prince Andrew is court-martialled over his part in Greece’s defeat during the war with Turkey.
1922-28 They settle in Saint-Cloud near Paris after a Royal Navy warship takes them to safety.
1928 Philip is sent to school in Britain and lives with his mother’s family the Mountbattens. His mother is diagnosed with schizophrenia and spends eight years in hospital before becoming a nun. His father moves to Monte Carlo with his mistress.
1933 Philip moves to boarding school in Germany. The school’s Jewish founder flees the Nazis and sets up Gordonstoun in Scotland, where Philip is sent shortly afterwards. He spends the rest of his school days at Gordonstoun.
1937 His sister Cecile, her husband and three children are killed in a plane crash.
1939 He leaves Gordonstoun and joins the Navy. He meets his future wife when she visits Dartmouth Royal Naval College with her father King George VI.
1941 Sees action during the Battle of Crete and is mentioned in dispatches after the Battle of Cape Matapan. 1942 Promoted to be one of the Navy’s youngest lieutenants.
1943 Takes part in the invasion of Sicily as second in command of destroyer HMS Wallace.
1944 Joins the Pacific Fleet fighting the Japanese.
July 9, 1947 Engagement to Princess Elizabeth is announced 18 months after his return to UK.
Nov 20, 1947 Marries Princess Elizabeth in Westminster Abbey in a service that is broadcast to more than 200 million people around the world. Prince Charles is born a year later.
1950 Philip is promoted to Lieutenant Commander and Princess Anne is born.
Feb 6, 1952 King George VI dies while Philip and Elizabeth are on tour in Kenya.
June 2, 1953 Elizabeth is crowned Queen with Philip as her consort.
1956 Philip and his old Gordonstoun mentor Kurt Hahn launch the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme.
1957 Philip is given the title of His Royal Highness.
Feb 19, 1960 Second son Prince Andrew is born. 1961 Philip becomes UK president of the World Wildlife Fund but is criticised after he shoots a tiger during a hunt in India.
Mar 10, 1964 The couple’s fourth child, Prince Edward is born.
July 1, 1969 The investiture of Charles as the Prince of Wales takes place at Caernarfon Castle.
Nov 14, 1973 Wedding of Princess Anne to Captain Mark Phillips.
1977 Philip goes on a three-month tour of Britain with the Queen to mark her Silver Jubilee.
Nov 15, 1977 Becomes a grandad when Princess Anne’s son Peter Phillips is born.
Aug 27, 1979 Philip’s uncle and Charles’s mentor Louis Mountbatten is killed by an IRA bomb on a boat in Ireland.
July 29, 1981 Charles marries Lady Diana Spencer at St Paul’s.
June 21, 1982 Prince William is born, followed two years later by Prince Harry.
1992 Charles and Diana’s marriage breaks down. Philip tries to help them reconcile, but they separate.
Aug 31, 1997 Diana is killed in a car crash in Paris. A week later, Philip walks behind her coffin with Charles, William, Harry and her brother, Earl Spencer.
2002 A month after the Queen Mother’s death, Philip and the Queen embark on tours around the UK and abroad to mark her Golden Jubilee.
2007 The couple celebrate their diamond wedding anniversary.
April 29, 2011
Attends Prince William’s wedding to Kate Middleton. Two months later, after his 90th birthday, Philip announces he will reduce his public duties.
June, 2012 Celebrates the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee at a pageant on the Thames. Falls ill with bladder infection and is taken to hospital.
July 27, 2012 The Queen and Philip open the London Olympics.
July 22, 2013 Great-grandson Prince George is born and becomes third in line to the throne.
Aug 2, 2017 Philip retires from royal duties and three months later celebrates his 70th wedding anniversary. May 19, 2018 Attends the wedding of Prince Harry to Meghan Markle. Jan 17, 2019 Walks away unhurt after his car overturns near Sandringham estate.
Mar 16, 2021 Leaves hospital after a month-long stay.
April 9, 2021 Prince Philip dies at Windsor Castle, aged 99.