Prince Philip: A Royal Life

He was born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark in 1921 on the Greek island of Corfu. His mother was Princess Alice of Battenberg which made Philip a great-grandchild of Queen Victoria just like his future wife but Philip and his family were forced to flee Greece after a coup and he ended up at Gordenstein school in Scotland where the disciplines of sport and achievement were to shape his future because from Gordonston he went to the royal navy in 1939 as a cadet.

When he was at Britannia royal naval college in Dartmouth before the war 18-year-old Phillip had been asked to entertain the king's daughters during a royal visit the eldest daughter Elizabeth she was 13 at the time they played croquet in the gardens outside, it was clear Elizabeth had taken a shine to Philip in Dartmouth that afternoon but whatever might have started then would have to wait for world war ii was about to take. Philip far away with the navy he fought the Italians and then the Japanese but the young princess exchanged letters with Philip throughout the war years which allowed them. When peace finally came to pick up their romance it's easy to see the radiant happiness of the princess and in 1947 they got engaged.

When it came later that year was to light up a post-war Britain still mired in bomb damage and rations he had renounced his Greek title and the king made him the duke of Edinburgh. Now the duke of Edinburgh takes a fatherly hand his technique being no better and no worse than most fathers Prince Charles was the first of the couple's four children a future king and the duke of Edinburgh was promoted to commander he took charge of his ship HMS magpie in Malta so at the beginning of the 1950s the young couple would lead a life about as close to normal as it ever got.

In later years he had to abandon the career he loved so much with the sudden death of his father-in-law his wife had become queen so at her coronation the following year an event he insisted should be televised for the world to see the duke took an oath to serve his wife the queen for the rest of his life. At the age of 50 he turned his attention to carriage driving which he kept at even when the sport became sometimes a little challenging. But there was also a passion for conservation he was president of the worldwide fund for nature from 1961 years before the world's attention turns to the environment.

The duke was enormously supportive of Diana he was once like her the royal outsider but his focus turned to his grandsons William and Harry when Diana's life was cut short by that car crash in Paris. A moment when the duke of Edinburgh had to support his wife at what became a very dangerous time for the monarchy but later that year when the queen and duke celebrated their golden wedding anniversary she paid him a personal and rare public tribute all too often,

"I fear Prince Philip has had to listen to me speaking is someone who doesn't take easily to compliments but he has quite simply been my strength and stay all these years".

Queen did sometimes need to cope with her husband's sense of humor. prince Philip's wit and sharp tongue sometimes created headlines which the palace could have done without at age 90. He not to have a care in the world but the hours spent on the river Thames for the queen's diamond jubilee would leave him in hospital with a bladder infection and there followed rare moments when the duke was not by the queen's side his official diary did not go on and on and when he announced his retirement from royal duties prince Philip did what he does best he made a joke.

A few months later that the duke bid farewell on a wet August day in the forecourt of Buckingham palace he saluted the royal marines of which he was the captain-general and at 96 he completed his final official engagement. Retirement was mostly spent away from the cameras and mostly at Sandringham which was where he had a car crash 1 he escaped from with no injuries remarkably even at 97. 2 others were injured though and it forced the duke to surrender his driving license and with it, a bit of the independence he greatly valued there were no more official engagements but neither retirement nor a recent hip operation were good enough reasons to miss a big royal wedding he watched his grandson Prince Harry married Meghan Markle in 2018 and he also met the couple's son Archie when he was born.

Prince Philip was moved to Windsor Castle with Queen Elizabeth where they both isolated with a small number of staff to limit the risk of infection and it was during that year he stepped out in public momentarily to hand over his military role with the rifles regiment to the duchess of Cornwall. He then headed back inside to resume his retirement behind closed doors but of all the stays he had endured in hospital in his later years 2021 would see the longest of them all prince Philip was discharged four weeks after first arriving and had a sudden visit one Saturday afternoon from his eldest son the Duke of Edinburgh was treated for both an infection and heart surgery in that time if queen Elizabeth's reign is to be judged a success it will be in no small part because of the man she married in his adopted country prince Philip became the joint author of the second Elizabethan era she is the longest-serving monarch in British history but at her side throughout was the longest-serving consort.