Death of Prince Philip: almost a century in the service of His Majesty
Prince Philip passed away on April 9, 2021 at the age of 99. The one that Queen Elizabeth II called her “rock” will have embraced all the movements of a family, a nation, and the history of the United Kingdom.
Two steps behind the queen: this is how the husband of Elizabeth II will have officially spent part of his life. But the one who passed away at the age of 99 will have been "the rock" of the sovereign, in the latter's own words, for more than half a century. And if Elizabeth II broke the record for longevity on the throne of England - held by her great-grandfather Victoria - he himself broke, in 2009, the record for longevity of the British princes consorts held by Charlotte, wife of George III . His death was announced on the Royal Family's Instagram account on April 9.
Born Philippe of Greece and Denmark on June 10, 1921 in Corfu, this descendant of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderbourg-Glücksbourg is the fifth child and only boy of Prince André of Greece and Princess Alice of Battenberg. Her surname comes from her father, Louis, born in Austria-Hungary but a British citizen by naturalization, who, after a career in the Royal Navy, renounced his German titles and adopted the surname of Mountbatten - a Anglicized version of Battenberg - in 1917, due to anti-German sentiment in the UK during WWI.
A schizophrenic mother
Settled in Greece, forced into exile in 1922, Prince Philip's family settled in France. Six years later, Alice of Battenberg converted to the Greek Orthodox religion. Mystic, diagnosed with schizophrenia, she was forcibly sent to a Swiss sanatorium in 1930 at the age of 45. Little Philip is 9 years old and has just returned from a picnic when he discovers his mother's sudden departure. He would not see her again briefly until seven years later. Leading a modest religious life in Athens, she distinguished herself by saving many Jews during World War II. But will be long absent from the life of her son, who will maintain strained relations with her until in 1967, influenced by Queen Elizabeth, he will offer his mother to reside at Buckingham Palace following a coup military state that forced her to flee her country.
A marriage and some renouncements
After studying in Germany, England and Scotland, it was at the age of 18, in 1939, that Prince Philip began his military career in the Royal Navy. And that he meets young Elizabeth during a visit by the Royal Family to the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth. The princess was only 13 years old, but she and Philip began an epistolary relationship and then reunited while the young man was on leave during the war. In 1943, Philip was invited to spend Christmas at Windsor Castle. In 1946, he finally asked the hand of Elizabeth to King George VI, who accepted, but on a few conditions: first, that the couple wait until the Princess's 21 years before making their union official. Then that Philip renounces his royal titles, and leaves the Greek Orthodox religion to convert to Anglicanism. He complies, becoming Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten.
Their engagement announcement took place on July 10, 1947, after Elizabeth returned from a trip to South Africa. They were married on November 20 at Westminster Abbey, just months after the end of the war. The day before, King George VI awarded Philip the predicate of Royal Highness and, that very morning, the Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Merioneth and Baron of Greenwich. While 2,000 people flock to Westminster and the ceremony, broadcast by the BBC, is followed by 200 million viewers worldwide, part of Prince Philip's family including his sisters, who married German officers close to the Nazi regime , will not be welcome.
In 1952, Elizabeth became queen upon the death of her father: her husband now had to bow to her. She will make him Prince of the United Kingdom in 1957 (and Lord Grand Admiral in 2011). He will continue his career in the navy before putting an end to his active career in 1951. His "first, second and last job", he later said, "will be never to let down the queen".
Humor and temperament
Together, Prince Philip and Elizabeth II have four children: Prince Charles (born 1948), Princess Anne (in 1950), Andrew (in 1960), Duke of York, and finally Edward (in 1964), Earl of Wessex. It was decided (through Winston Churchill) that they would be named after House Windsor; Prince Philip thus deplored being the only man in the country who could not pass his name on to his children, and would have even shouted in front of the queen: "So I am just a bloody amoeba here!" Thanks to an executive order dating from 1960, descendants of Philip and Elizabeth without royal titles can however use the surname Mountbatten-Windsor. This is particularly the case of Prince Harry's son, baptized Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor.
As prince consort, Philip assists his wife in her duties as sovereign by accompanying her to numerous dinners and ceremonies. Passionate about polo, navigation, aviation and painting, he is also a sponsor of around 800 organizations and associations, particularly those devoted to the environment, industry, sport and education. His official appearances are often marked by blunders and other wits, sometimes bordering on diplomatic crisis. But his humor, bringing a little levity to the monarchy, earned him the sympathy of many British people. As for the rumors of his infidelities towards the queen, who will recognize that their couple has gone through "storms", they will not damage their union, which will have lasted more than seventy years.
In private, a man involved
Behind the scenes, under the gold of the palaces, Prince Philip also plays a major role in the life of the royal family. And especially in the case that shocked him the most. In early 1981, when his son, Prince Charles, began dating a certain Diana Spencer, he urged him to make a decision quickly: to marry quickly, or to break up before going any further. Charles therefore married the future Lady Di in February. Their marriage will be as successful as we know it. However, when the couple are on the verge of divorce, it is Prince Philip who will write a letter to Diana, lamenting his son's extramarital affair with Camilla Parker-Bowles but asking her to renounce their separation. Diana will refuse, while being touched by the mail. At the latter's funeral in September 1997, Philip will walk behind his coffin alongside Prince Charles and his grandsons, Princes Harry and William. The latter having previously hesitated to take part in the procession, they would have convinced them by promising William to be near them: "If you don't go, I think you will regret it later. If I go, will you walk with me? "
The end of another reign
On May 4, 2017, Buckingham Palace announced in a statement that "His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh has decided to stop honoring public appointments from the fall" and to retire from public life. Prince Philip made his last public engagement on August 2, 2017, at the age of 96. Hospitalized several times since 2008, he had hit the headlines by being involved, in 2019, in a car accident leaving the Sandringham estate. Unscathed, he had however returned his driving license. At the end of December 2019, he had been hospitalized for four nights at Edward VII Hospital to be "treated under observation due to pre-existing health problems". At the beginning of January, the 94-year-old sovereign and her husband had received their first injection of the vaccine against the coronavirus, at Windsor Castle, where they were spending the period of confinement.
In recent years, Prince Philip had nevertheless offered some public appearances, especially during the transfer of his title of colonel in chief of the Rifles, an infantry regiment of the British army, to Camilla Parker-Bowles, now wife of Prince Charles, in July 2020. But he did not appear on the last photos of the royal family. He is said to have been reluctant to have a big celebration to mark his 100th birthday in June 2021. But the British will salute the memory of a leading figure in modern UK history. And the rock forever of their sovereign.
