Award winner
Prince’s projects that changed millions of young lives
PRAISED for being ahead of his time in some quarters, Prince Philip was the first royal to give an interview on TV. In 1961 he spoke to Richard Dimbleby about City & Guilds, which gave non-academic teenagers qualifications in their chosen trades – he believed opportunity was the key to success.
In 1969 he persuaded the Queen to allow cameras into Buckingham Palace to film the groundbreaking documentary Royal Family which, though tame by today’s standards, was the public’s first look into their private world.
It was seen by 25 million people in Britain and 100 million worldwide.
The number of organisations he helped, grew to reflect his incredible diversity of interests, covering industry, science, technology, conservation, the environment, sport and the welfare of young people.
Convinced that sport was vital to the young, he supported the Playing Fields Association and battled to prevent schools selling off their sports grounds to developers.
Then came the campaign to preserve the world’s last tea clipper, Cutty Sark, helping to secure a dry berth for her near the Royal Naval College at Greenwich.
In 1956 he set up his most successful legacy, the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme, which has helped transform so many young lives across the globe.
A remarkable four million young people, in 60 countries, have worked to achieve bronze, silver and gold Duke of Edinburgh awards, Every day 195 youngsters earn one.
The Duke gave more than 5,000 speeches and lectures over a period of 60 years, and his collected speeches cover more than a yard of shelf space at his office in Buckingham Palace.
He has also written books on his favourite sport, carriage driving, which he took up at the age of 50, after arthritis in his wrists meant that he could no longer play polo.
Again, not content with simply being a figurehead, he wrote the rules of international carriage-driving and competed for Great Britain alongside scrap merchant George Bowman.
The Prince said: “If you’ve got a common interest, nobody cares a damn where you come from or who you are.” He even became interested in UFOs, subscribed to Flying Saucer Review magazine and corresponded with leading UFO expert Tim Good.
After the Queen’s Coronation, the Duke authorised his equerry, Squadron Leader Peter Horsley, to follow up any credible reports of UFO sightings and invited several witnesses to Buckingham Palace to tell him their stories.
A NEW FOCUS
DESPITE having to give up his distinguished naval career, he combined his love of the military with his belief that young people needed to be active.
He became Admiral of the Sea Cadet Corps, Colonel-in-Chief of the Army Cadet Force and Air Commodore-in-Chief of the Air Training Corps.
He was promoted to Admiral of the Fleet in the Navy, appointed Field Marshal in the Army and had the rank of Marshal of the Royal Air Force.
He was also Captain-General of the Royal Marines and Colonel-in-Chief, or Colonel, of many British and overseas regiments. Over the decades, he supported the military, and at the 2012 wedding of his grandson William to Kate Middleton he wore the scarlet uniform of the Grenadier Guards.
A year later it was the uniform he wore at the Trooping The Colour, his first engagement after being admitted to hospital with a bladder infection
Although the Queen was head of state, Philip was most definitely head of the family and Elizabeth deferred to her husband at home.
The couple were in constant touch most days, breakfasted together and worked in adjoining offices at Buckingham Palace. The Duke is credited with helping the Queen overcome her natural shyness and, during their early royal engagements, his breezy irreverence helped break the ice and smooth along the conversation. In a lasting and heartfelt tribute, Prince Philip’s biographer, Philip Eade, said: “Nobody can dispute that he has performed his role of supporting the Queen with utter devotion.”
It was a trait mirrored in his public life too.