Prince Philip, a life in the shadow of the Queen of England
He solidly supported Elizabeth II, in the shadows, for more than half a century. Prince Philip died on April 9, 2021 at the age of 99. Back on a unique destiny alongside the Queen of England.
If Elizabeth II broke the record for longevity on the throne of England - held by her great-grandfather Victoria - Philip himself had broken in 2009 the record for the longevity of British princes consorts held by Charlotte, wife of George III.
As Stéphane Bern wrote in the pages of Jours de France, Elizabeth was only 13 when she fell in love with the man who would become the man of her life and her husband for more than seventy years. The tall, blond Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark is 18 years old. His good looks as a Nordic prince charmed the princesses, and Elizabeth was very impressed with his athletic performance. He proposed to her in Scotland in the summer of 1946, and rumors said that "Lilibeth", madly in love, would have accepted without even asking King George VI for advice. Three months after the ceremony, which took place on November 20, 1947 at Westminster Abbey, Princess Elizabeth was pregnant. Together they will have four children, Charles, Anne, Andrew and Edward, eight grandchildren and ten great grandchildren. His "first, second and last job," he said next, "will be never to let the queen down."
"Philip: it's my rock"
A queen to whom he has always been loyal, despite her fiery temperament, and his little second-in-command frustrations. So on the day Churchill advised the family to take Windsor instead of Mountbatten, Philip reportedly yelled, "So I'm just a bloody amoeba here!" A little formal language which the queen does not hold against him, any more than his subjects who find that he brings a little levity to the monarchy and are grateful to him for his consistency with Elizabeth II. The best tribute to Philip comes from his wife herself, who said in 2011: “She's my rock. He was simply my strength and my support. ”
The Duke of Edinburgh retired in August 2017 after having participated in more than 22,000 official engagements since the crowning of the Sovereign. He continues to appear sporadically alongside Elizabeth II, and sometimes performs certain official solo engagements, such as during the transfer ceremony of his title of Colonel-in-Chief of the Rifles, an infantry regiment of the British Army, in Camilla de Cornouailles, in July 2020. An unprecedented snapshot of the Duke and Elizabeth II, immortalized at Windsor Castle, was also unveiled on the occasion of the Christmas holidays. The couple subsequently received the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine on Saturday, January 9. This April 9, Prince Philip passed away.
