Well, it’s the end of an era and (prepare for me to sound like I’m a British royal historian) a chapter of the British monarchy has closed. Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, who I thought would be busting moves and laying it down at his big 100th birthday party in June, died this morning at Windsor Castle at 99.
Buckingham Palace announced today that THE QUEEN is mourning the loss of her husband Prince Philip and is now learning to live in a world without her companion of 73 years.
“It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen announces the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle. Further announcements will be made in due course. The Royal Family join with people around the world in mourning his loss.”
Prince Philip came into this world on June 10, 1921 as a double royal. He was born Prince Philipos of Greece and Denmark of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, and at birth, he was in line to both thrones. After some serious political messiness went down in Greece, Prince Philip and his family were exiled from the country when he was just eighteen months old. Philip went to school in Paris and the United Kingdom. When he was just a young boy, his immediate family began to break up. His mother, Princess Alice of Battenberg, was diagnosed with schizophrenia and put in an asylum. His father, Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark, shacked up with his side piece in Monte Carlo. And his four sisters married German princes and moved to Germany.
At the age of 18, Philip joined the British Royal Navy, where he served during World War II. That same year, Philip met a simple ole’ British girl who just so happened to be the next in line to the British throne and was also his third cousin. Philip and his third cousin THE QUEEN met when she and her father, King George VI, toured the Royal Navy College, Dartmouth. THE QUEEN was just 13 at the time. They became pen pals and fell in love and in 1947, when THE QUEEN was 21, their engagement was announced. Prince Philip abandoned his his Greek and Danish royal titles when he married THE QUEEN on November 20, 1947 at Westminster Abbey:
THE QUEEN gave birth to two children, Prince Charles (in 1948) and Princess Anne (in 1950), before she took over the crown in 1952 after her father died. When THE QUEEN’s reign began, Philip’s role shifted and he became consort to the Queen of England. In 1957, she granted him the title of prince. THE QUEEN and Philip welcomed two more children: Prince A*dr*w (in 1960) and Prince Edward (in 1960).
THE QUEEN and Prince Philip’s union was very modern at a time when people were still stuck on traditional roles since she was the Queen of England and he was her sidekick royale. During his time as a working royal, he did over 22,000 royal engagements on his own and was the longest-serving consort in British history. He retired from his royal duties in 2017.
Thanks to The Crown (where Philip was played by Matt Smith and Tobias Menzies), a new generation got to know Prince Philip. And Philip was also known for his “cheeky responses” as I’ve seen some media people describe it as, but some of those cheeky responses were filled with racism and other offensiveness, like how he told a group of British students visiting China that if they stay longer they’ll become “slitty-eyed,” asked a group of Aborigine elders if they still “throw spears at each other,” and said to a group of women of color, “Who do you sponge off? And in 1961, Philip shot and killed a tiger during a hunt in India. That same year, he became president of the World Wildlife Fund UK.
More recently, Philip flipped his Land Rover after he T-boned another car. Philip came out of the crash fine and gave up his drivers license in 2019. And last month, he was released from the hospital after spending a month in there.
Prince Philip is entitled to a big ole’ grand state funeral, but apparently, that’s not going to happen since he didn’t want the fuss of all that. THE QUEEN is now entering eight days of mourning as she is hopefully comforted by her elixir of life, gin, and her new adorable Corgi puppies.
Pics: Wenn.com
