Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (Philip
Mountbatten, formerly
Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark) (born
10 June 1921,
Greece) is the husband of
Queen Elizabeth II of the
United Kingdom. Originally a
Greek subject and a
Prince of
Greece and
Denmark, he renounced these titles and his allegiance to marry the Princess Elizabeth. Prince Philip is a member of the Danish Royal House of
Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, from Northern Germany. Prior to his marriage,
King George VI created him
Duke of Edinburgh,
Earl of Merioneth and
Baron Greenwich with the style of
Royal Highness. In 1957, Philip was created a
Prince of the United Kingdom by The Queen.
In addition to his royal duties, the Duke of Edinburgh is also the patron of many organisations, including the
Duke of Edinburgh Award, the
World Wildlife Fund, and he is
Chancellor of both the
University of Cambridge and
University of Edinburgh. In particular, he has devoted himself to raising public awareness of the relationship of humanity with the environment since visiting the Southern Antarctic Islands in 1956, and has published and spoken widely for half a century on this subject. See Wikiquote [
1] for extracts from these speeches.
The Prince continues to fulfil his public duties as a member of the
Royal Family, and is an established public figure in the
United Kingdom. He has gained something of a reputation for making "politically incorrect" and often controversial remarks, particularly when meeting the
British public or on state visits to other countries (see below).
Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark was born on
10 June 1921 atop a kitchen table at Villa Mon Repos on
Corfu, a Greek island in the
Ionian sea. His father was
Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark, the fourth son of
King George I of Greece, for whom some claim a partially
Byzantine Greek descent, and
Queen Olga. His mother was
Princess Alice of Greece and Denmark (formerly Princess Alice of Battenberg), the elder daughter of the
1st Marquess of Milford Haven (formerly Prince Louis of Battenberg) and the
Marchioness of Milford Haven (formerly Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine). Lady Milford Haven, through her mother, the Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine (formerly
Princess Alice of the United Kingdom), was a granddaughter of
Queen Victoria. Princess Alice was the sister of
Queen Louise of Sweden,
George Mountbatten, 2nd Marquess of Milford Haven and
Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma.
The Prince was baptised a few days after his birth at St. George's Church in the Palaio Frourio ("Old Fortress") in Corfu. His godparents were Queen Olga and the Corfu community (represented by Alexander S. Kokotos, Mayor of Corfu, and Stylianos I. Maniarizis, Chairman of Corfu City Council). In later life he had a rediscovered interest in his original
Greek Orthodox faith.
Prince Andrew and Princess Alice remained in residence on the Island of Corfu for 18 months. Greece was politically unstable, and it was expected that the monarchy would soon be overthrown. On
22 September 1922,
King Constantine I was forced to
abdicate the throne. A revolutionary court sentenced Prince Andrew, his younger brother, to death. Fortunately for the family,
King George V of the United Kingdom ordered that a
Royal Navy ship evacuate the family, and Philip was carried to safety in a cot made from an orange box.
He had four older sisters, all of whom married German princes:
*
Princess Margarita (
1905-
1981)
*
Princess Theodora (
1906-
1969)
*
Princess Cecilie (
1911-
1937)
*
Princess Sophie (
1914-
2000)
Prince Andrew, Princess Alice and their children fled to Paris, where they took up residence at Saint-Cloud, in a villa belonging to Prince Andrew's sister-in-law
Princess Marie Bonaparte. After being exiled, the marriage of Prince Philip's parents began to crumble. His father descended into alcoholism and gambling. His mother declined into mental instability and subsequent institutionalisation. She recovered and turned to religion. Afterwards, Prince Philip was to see little of them.
Prince Philip's education began at an American school in Saint-Cloud. However, his grandmother, Lady Milford Haven, advised her daughter to have him educated in
England. He subsequently departed for the Surrey preparatory school
Cheam.
Aged 12, Prince Philip departed England for Germany, studying at
Schule Schloss Salem, a school in Southern Germany that belonged to
Prince Maximilian of Baden, the father of his brother-in-law. The school was supervised by Kurt Hahn, an education pioneer who had been an early admirer and later a fierce critic of the Nazi party. By the time
Hitler came to power in 1933, however, Hahn, who was Jewish, had become alarmed by the radical developments of Nazism and relocated to
Scotland where he founded
Gordonstoun. (He also founded the
Outward Bound organization.) Prince Philip also left Germany, in 1936, and went to Gordonstoun where he flourished academically and socially. He was the head of the hockey and cricket teams, and eventually became
head boy. Prince Philip was so fond of the school that he later sent
The Prince of Wales,
The Prince Andrew and
The Prince Edward to Gordonstoun also, though his sons experienced the school with mixed results.
On
1 May 1939, Prince Philip began his naval career at
Britannia Royal Naval College in
Dartmouth as a Special Entry Cadet. In his training year, Philip won the prestigious King's Dirk and the prize for best cadet of his entry. The start of the
Second World War meant that Prince Philip was soon on active duty.
In 1940 he served on
HMS Ramilles in
Colombo,
Ceylon, as a
Midshipman, patrolling the
Indian Ocean and escorting troops from
Australia to the
Middle East. In
1941 he was transferred to
HMS Valiant, a battleship stationed in
Alexandria,
Egypt. Philip acted as the searchlight control on the ship,
helping to sink two
Italian cruisers. Later service in the war saw Philip promoted to the rank of
Lieutenant and serving during the invasion of
Sicily. Philip was also present onboard
HMS Whelp at the surrender of
Japanese forces in
Tokyo Bay.
On
20 November 1947, Prince Philip married the
heiress presumptive to the British throne,
The Princess Elizabeth, eldest daughter of
King George VI and
Queen Elizabeth. The couple married at
Westminster Abbey in
London with the ceremony recorded and broadcast by the
BBC.
|
The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh on their wedding day. |
Before they could marry, Prince Philip was required to convert from
Greek Orthodoxy to
Anglicanism, to renounce his allegiance to the Hellenic
Crown, and to become a naturalised British subject
1. He renounced his Greek and Danish royal titles on
18 March 1947 and decided to take the name
Mountbatten, an Anglicised version of Battenberg, his mother's family name. The day before his wedding, King George VI titled his future son-in-law
Duke of Edinburgh,
Earl of Merioneth, and
Baron Greenwich, of Greenwich in the County of London. The King also issued Letters Patent allowing the Duke of Edinburgh to use the style
His Royal Highness, in effect restoring Philip's original princely status. After their marriage, his wife became
Her Royal Highness The Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh. The King seemed to be under the impression that, if Philip had the style of 'His Royal Highness', he was automatically a Prince of the United Kingdom. This was later shown to be incorrect, and the situation was rectified by his wife in
1957 (see below). From
1947 to
1957, Philip's legal name was technically
His Royal Highness Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. However, due to the confusion, he was often referred to as
His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, even in official documents.
In post-war Britain it was not acceptable to invite any of the Duke of Edinburgh's German relations to his wedding. The sole exception was his mother, who was born at Windsor of German parents. Excluded from the invitation list were his three surviving sisters, each of whom had married German aristocrats, some with
Nazi connections. (His sister Princess Sophie's first husband, Prince Christophe of Hesse had been a member of the
SS and an aide to
Heinrich Himmler.) Also, the bride's aunt
Mary, Princess Royal refused to attend because her brother, the
Duke of Windsor (who abdicated in 1936), was not invited.
 |
The Duke of Edinburgh accompanies the newly crowned Queen Elizabeth II back from Westminster Abbey on her coronation day |
After their marriage, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh took up residence at
Clarence House in
London. The Duke was keen to pursue his naval career. However the knowledge that it would be eclipsed by his wife's future role as Queen was always in his mind. Nevertheless, he returned to the Navy after his honeymoon, and was stationed in
Malta. He rose through the naval ranks and commanded his own frigate,
HMS Magpie.
In January
1952, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh set off for a tour of the
Commonwealth, with visits to
Africa,
Australia and
New Zealand. On
6 February, when the Duke and Duchess were in
Kenya, the Duchess's father,
King George VI, died, and she ascended the Throne as Queen Elizabeth II. The Duke broke the news to the new Queen at their hotel (
Tree Tops). The Duke was resigned to the fact that his naval career was now over, and he had a new role as the consort of the British monarch.
Unlike the wife of a British monarch, there is no corresponding role for the husband of a reigning Queen. In compensation, the Queen allowed Philip a free hand in the upbringing of their children, allowing Philip to decide on their education and future careers.
The accession of Elizabeth to the Throne brought up the question of the name of the
Royal House. The Duke's uncle,
Earl Mountbatten of Burma, had advocated the new name
House of Mountbatten, as Elizabeth would typically have taken Philip's name on marriage. When
Queen Mary, Elizabeth's grandmother, heard about this, she told
Sir Winston Churchill who later advised the Queen to issue a proclamation declaring that the Royal House was to remain the
House of Windsor. Philip bitterly remarked that he had been "turned into an amoeba".
In
1953, the Duke was given the rank and titles
Admiral of the Fleet,
Field Marshal, and
Marshal of the Royal Air Force. He was also made the Captain-General of the
Royal Marines. This was in tune with the tradition established by
Queen Victoria, who did not wish to take a military role that people of her gender could not normally assume (though she did not appoint her prince consort to these positions).
The Duke of Edinburgh has supported the Queen in her role for well over 50 years. The Queen and Duke attend state visits abroad, and receive foreign dignitaries together. The Duke often carries out his own separate engagements on behalf of the Queen at home and abroad.
The Duke is also patron of many organisations. He established
The Duke of Edinburgh's Award in
1956 to give young people "a sense of responsibility to themselves and their communities". The scheme now operates in 100 countries around the world. He has also been President of the .
In
1956-
1957, the Duke took a round-the-world voyage on board
HMY Britannia, visiting remote islands of the
Commonwealth. This was when he first became aware of the effects of human industrialisation on the natural environment.
On the golden jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II in 2002, the Duke was commended by the Speaker of the House of Commons for his role in supporting the Queen during her reign.
One of the most controversial aspects of the Duke was his relationship with his daughters-in-law,
Diana, Princess of Wales and
Sarah, Duchess of York. He was alleged to have been hostile to Diana after her divorce from the Prince of Wales.
Mohamed Al-Fayed, the father of Diana's companion
Dodi Al-Fayed and owner of
Harrods, even suggested in court that the Duke was responsible for ordering Diana's death, remarks that led the Duke and the other members of the Royal Family to rescind their
Royal Warrants from Harrods.
Throughout his marriage, rumours spread concerning the Duke's alleged extra-marital affairs. The first public media report of the allegation appeared in
1957 in the
Baltimore Sun, which claimed REPORT QUEEN, DUKE IN RIFT OVER PARTY GIRL. In a break with precedent Buckingham Palace commented on the story, denying it in a forthright manner.
|
Prince Philip at one of his many trips that took him all over the world, here in Afghanistan visiting Lord Nasher |
Rumours, some published - and potentially libellous - hinted at with references to a "senior royal" being a "ladies' man", continued throughout his marriage.
Australia's
Woman's Day front page once promised readers a detailed exposé of 'Prince Philip's torrid sex life' with his 'famous lovers named';
The Tatler once published Philip's 'fan club', a list of famous women close to him, implying that they were his mistresses. Author Nicholas Davies suggested the Prince's supposed lovers included his wife's cousin,
Princess Alexandra of Kent,
film-star
Merle Oberon, and
Susan Barrantes, mother of
Sarah, Duchess of York. One rumour even outrageously claimed Philip had a
homosexual affair with former
President of France Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, while other rumours included an actress, a 1950s personality and supposedly a childhood friend with whom he allegedly had children. Respected Royal biographer of King George VI and Elizabeth II
Sarah Bradford expressed her belief that Philip had committed adultery. It was even suggested by
Lauren Bacall that Philip used his 'close friends' the
actors
David Niven and
Douglas Fairbanks, Jr to act as his
beard, with them pretending to be escorting women in Philip's company who were in reality his girlfriends.
One
German newspaper even claimed in
1995 that Buckingham Palace had confirmed that Prince Philip was the father of 24
illegitimate children, only to retract the claim when they realised that they had mistranslated information from the Palace that had said he had 24
godchildren.
However, the Prince's most recent biographer,
Gyles Brandreth, who interviewed Prince Philip, Kirkwood, Boyle, Cordet and friends, concluded that all the rumours were untrue; Kirkwood only met Philip socially on a handful of occasions, as did Boyle. The rumours concerning Cordet originated because she had had two children with her future second husband while separated from her first husband, but had declined at the time to name the father of her children, leading to rumours that it was her close friend Philip who was the father. Nor were Niven nor Fairbanks, contrary to Bacall's claims, more than casual acquaintances of Philip's. Brandreth concluded that Philip had not had any sexual relationship outside his marriage, believing that it would have been out of character, given his personal devotion to the Queen, and also no independent verified evidence, even in the most widely believed cases, could be found. Philip himself noted how his face is internationally recognised and that he has been accompanied continually since
1947 by police and detectives, so that extra-marital relationships could not have been carried out and had they been, would invariably have been discovered. While the rumours spread, no British
tabloid has ever unearthed evidence to support the claims, which - given the tabloids' predilictions for publishing lurid scandals - tends to support the position that Prince Philip has been nothing other than faithful to his wife.
[For details of the rumours surrounding Prince Philip's life, see Gyles Brandreth, Philip & Elizabeth: Portrait of a Marriage (Arrow, 1994) pp.335-369.] "I am the type who enjoys loyal company at Balmoral, if you catch my drift".
Prince Philip is considered a god among the Yaohnanen tribe of the island of
Tanna in
Vanuatu. According to the legends of the
Prince Philip Movement, Philip is the human face of an ancestral spirit, and they wait for him to return to them.[
2]
The Queen created the Duke of Edinburgh a Prince of the United Kingdom in
1957, to correct the error that Philip had been made a Duke and given the style of His Royal Highness, but not made a Prince. To make this change significant, she styled him in the announcement
His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, adding the definite article before his princely title, a usage normally restricted to the children of monarchs. An
Order-in-Council was also issued in
1960, which stated the surname of male-line descendants of the Duke and the Queen who are not Royal Highnesses or Prince or Princess was to be
Mountbatten-Windsor. This was to address the Duke's complaint that he was the only father in the country unable to pass his name to his children. In practice, however, the Queen and the Duke's children have all used
Mountbatten-Windsor as the surname they prefer for themselves and their male-line children.
After her accession to the throne, the Queen also announced that the Duke was to have
place, pre-eminence and precedence next to the Queen
on all occasions and in all meetings, except where otherwise provided by Act of Parliament. This means the Duke is the first gentleman of the land, and takes precedence over his son, the
Prince of Wales.
The Queen has never granted the Duke the title of
Prince Consort. This title was granted to
Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha by his wife,
Queen Victoria, and has not been used since.
As of July 2006, the Duke is the oldest surviving great-great-grandchild of
Queen Victoria and is 495th in the
line of succession to the British Throne in his own right.
 |
Arms of HRH The Duke of Edinburgh |
The Duke has his own personal
coat of arms, created on
November 19,
1947. Unlike the arms used by other members of the Royal Family, the Duke's arms do not feature the
Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom, as men are not entitled to bear the arms of their wives. However they do feature elements representing Greece and Denmark, from which he is descended in the male line; the Mountbatten family arms, from which he is descended in the female line; and the
City of Edinburgh, representing his
dukedom.
The
shield is quartered, the first quarter depicting the
arms of Denmark, consists of three blue lions passant and nine red hearts on a yellow field. The second quadrant depicts the
arms of Greece, a white cross on a blue field. The third quarter depicts the arms of the Mountbatten family, five black and white vertical stripes. The fourth quarter depicts the arms of the City of Edinburgh includes a black and red castle which is also part of the city of Edinburgh's arms.
The sinister
supporter is a savage from the Danish Royal Coat of Arms; the dexter, a golden lion wearing a ducal cornet.
The coat features both the
motto God is my help and the motto of the
Order of the Garter,
Honi soit qui mal y pense (Shamed be he who thinks ill of it) on a representation of the Garter behind the shield.
Shorthand titles
*
His Royal Highness Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark (
10 June 1921–
18 March 1947)
* Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, RN (
18 March–
18 November 1947)
* Lieutenant Sir Philip Mountbatten, KG, RN (
18 November–
19 November 1947)
* Lieutenant
His Royal Highness Sir Philip Mountbatten, KG, RN (
19 November–
20 November 1947)
*
His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh, KG (
20 November 1947–
4 December 1951)
*
His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh, KG, PC (
4 December 1951–
21 April 1952)
*
His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh, KG, KT, PC (
21 April 1952–
22 May 1953)
*
His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh, KG, KT, GBE, PC (
22 May 1953–
22 February 1957)
*
His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, KG, KT, GBE, PC (
22 February 1957–
10 June 1968)
*
His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, KG, KT, OM, GBE, PC (
10 June 1968–
15 November 1981)
**
His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, KG, KT, OM, GBE, PC (
15 November 1981 -
1982)
*
His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, KG, KT, OM, GBE, QSO, PC, CD (
1982–
13 June 1988)
*
His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, KG, KT, OM, GBE, AC, QSO, PC, CD, CD (
13 June 1988—)
Honours
*
Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter*
Knight of the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle*
Order of Merit*
Grand Master and First and Principal Knight Grand Cross of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire*
Companion in the Order of Australia*
Companion in Queen's Service Order*
Lord of Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council*
Privy Councillor for Canada*
Chief of the Order of Logohu (2005) [
3]
*
Admiral of the Fleet,
Royal Navy*
Admiral of the Fleet,
Royal Australian Navy*
Admiral of the Fleet,
Royal New Zealand Navy*
Admiral,
Royal Canadian Sea Cadets*
Captain General,
Royal Marines*
Field Marshal,
Army*
Field Marshal,
Australian Army*
Marshal of the Royal Air Force,
Royal Air Force*
Marshal of the Royal Australian Air Force,
Royal Australian Air Force*
Colonel-in-Chief,
Royal Canadian Army Cadets*
Air Commodore-in-Chief,
Air Training Corps*
Colonel-in-Chief,
Australian Army CadetsAs part of a
Cargo Cult, the Yaohnanen people of
Vanuatu regarded Prince Philip as a god. [
4]
See also
List of titles and honours of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
The Concise British Flora in Colour by
William Keble Martin,
Ebury Press/
Michael Joseph (
1965)
British Flags and Emblems by
Graham Bartram,
Tuckwell Press (
2004)
The Duke is particularly known in Britain for occasional controversial (often unkind) remarks made while on public visits. [
5][
6].
*When visiting
China in
1986, he told a group of British students, "If you stay here much longer, you'll all be slitty-eyed".
*After accepting a gift from a
Kenyan native he replied, "You are a woman, aren't you?"
*"If it has four legs and is not a chair, has wings and is not an aeroplane, or swims and is not a submarine, the
Cantonese will eat it." (1986)
*"British women can't cook." (1966)
*To a British student in
Papua New Guinea: "You managed not to get eaten then?"
*Angered local residents in
Lockerbie when on a visit to the town in 1993, the Prince said to a man who lived in a road where 11 people had been killed by wreckage from the
Pan Am jumbo jet: "People usually say that after a fire it is water damage that is the worst. We are still trying to dry out Windsor Castle."
*On a visit to the new
Welsh Assembly in
Cardiff, he told a group of deaf children standing next to a
Jamaican steel drum band, "Deaf? No wonder you are deaf standing so close to that racket."[
7]
*He asked an
Indigenous Australian, "Still throwing spears?" (2002)[
8]
*Said to a Briton in
Budapest,
Hungary, "You can't have been here that long – you haven't got a pot belly." (1993)
*To the President of Nigeria, who was dressed in traditional Muslim robes, "You look like you're ready for bed!"
*[To Lord Taylor of Warwick, who is black]: And what exotic part of the world do you come from? [Lord Taylor]: I'm from Birmingham.
*Seeing a shoddily installed fuse box in a high-tech Edinburgh factory, HRH remarked that it looked "like it was put in by an
Indian".[
9]
*During a Royal visit to China in 1986 he described Peking as "ghastly".
*"Aren't most of you descended from pirates?" (in 1994, to an islander in the Cayman Islands)
*At the height of the recession in 1981 he said: "Everybody was saying we must have more leisure. Now they are complaining they are unemployed."
As a descendant of the
Electress Sophia of Hanover through his mother, Princess Alice of Battenberg, Philip could already claim to be a naturalised British subject under the terms of the
Sophia Naturalization Act passed in 1705. His naturalisation was at Lord Mountbatten's behest and merely undertaken out of an abundance of caution in the somewhat xenophobic atmosphere of the immediate postwar years.
*
Royal.gov.uk- HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh*
Duke of Edinburgh Award
