Busy ‘farewell tour’ will include reception for award winners
THE Duke of Edinburgh’s busy “farewell tour” will fittingly include a dinner and reception for the charity he founded and which bears his name.
Prince Philip will host a dinner for the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award in a fortnight and follow that with a Buckingham Palace reception for youngsters who have achieved its gold standard.
Prince Philip will also attend garden parties, the Chelsea Flower Show, Trooping the Colour – on June 17, to mark The Queen’s official birthday – and Royal Ascot, carrying out all the duties already in the diary on the royal family’s website.
The King and Queen of Spain will pay a three-day state visit, starting on July 12, which he will also attend. The “line in the sand” will be the Queen and Duke’s annual summer holiday to Balmoral in August. After that, the Prince will largely retire from public duties.
Other events through the summer may be published in the coming weeks and will be scrutinised by fans of the Duke of Edinburgh who will hope to catch a last glimpse of him on public duty before his autumn retirement.
The next date in the diary is a visit to Pangbourne College in Reading, Berkshire, on May 9 for the school’s centenary. The Duke will accompany the Queen, meeting teacher and pupils.
On May 14 he will present trophies at the Royal Windsor Horse Show and the next day is due to attend the Chartered Management Institute’s President’s Dinner at Banqueting House in central London. He is the institute’s patron.
On May 16, the Queen and Prince Philip will host one of the annual garden parties at Buckingham Palace. Two more are planned for June 1 and July 4.
The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award dinner will be hosted by the Duke on May 19 and the gold award reception on May 24. The eponymous award scheme was created in 1956 and in its first year handed out 1,000 DofE Awards. Last year the number of awards was 119,892. The Duke remains its patron and in 2013 attended his 500th gold awards ceremony.
He remains active as president or patron of some 800 organisations.
Two particular events dear to his heart before retirement are understood to be a regimental remembrance service for the Grenadier Guards on May 21, and an afternoon reception for London Youth, of which he is patron, on May 31. He became president of London Youth, formerly the London Federation of Boys’ Clubs, in 1947.
It is not clear what other public duties he is due to take part in over the next four months.
On Wednesday, Prince Philip opened a new stand at Lord’s cricket ground in central London where he looked “relaxed, lively and walked confidently”. But it appears the Duke has decided that the time has come to step back from royal duties that can involve extensive travel.
A royal aide said Philip is likely to attend events in the future and will not completely disappear from public life.