Such a devastating news today in the royal world. The most prominent member of the British royal family, their patriarch, passed away, just this morning.Â
Buckingham Palace announced that the Queen's husband, His Royal Highness, Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, died peacefully at Windsor Castle this morning. He was 99, just two months short before his centennial birthday.
Queen Elizabeth II's husband had been suffering from a series of illness in the past years since he retired from public duty in 2017.
Just this February, he was brought to the hospital to treat an infection in the stomach, and undergone a heart surgery. He was confined for 28 days, his longest ever confinement reported.Â
He was unable to go back to his retirement place at Wood Farm in Sandringham due to COVID-19 restrictions.
This June 2021, would have been his 100th birthday celebration and preparation for such an extraordinary milestone is already in place. Unfortunately, he did not make it.
He and the Queen had been married for 73 years! The longest ever for a British monarch.
Death of an Era
Prince Philip was the longest-serving prince consort in British history. He became prince consort in 1952 on the accession of his wife to the British throne.
He had been the Queen's staunchest supporter during the time her reign was in crisis, especially in the 1990s when their children's messy marriages and divorces became national controversies.
He died in a time his wife's reign is again in great crisis as their grandson, Prince Harry, and his wife, went for a tell-all interview in the U.S television.
Prince Philip was the strength behind his wife. He helped ushered the British monarchy into modernity, refurbishing most trappings in the 19th century he thought already obsolete.
He tried to help protecting the prestige of the crown by acting as the Queen's watchdog. As the fairytale was upstaged by scandalous affairs of their children, Prince Philip's role centered on ensuring the legacy of the monarchy will be preserved.
More royal than his wife
Prince Philip was the last link to the glorious age of European royal court where royal marriages really mean ROYAL MARRIAGES.
He was born a royal prince.
His father, Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark, was the son of King George I of Greece and Queen Olga, a granddaughter of Emperor Nicholas I of Russia.
His mother, Princess Alice of Battenberg, was a great granddaughter of Queen Victoria. The last Empress consort of Russia, Empress Alexandra, was his maternal great aunt.Â
He was third cousins to most European royals through his direct ancestors, Queen Victoria of Britain and King Christian IX of Denmark.
Prince Philip was born in Greece, in the island of Corfu, on June 10, 1921. But his family left the country in 1923 and lived in exile for the rest of their lives.
All his four sisters married German princes.
In 1931, his parents separated. Prince Andrew left his family and went to live in Southern France until his death in 1944.
He married then Princess Elizabeth, the heir-presumptive of King George VI, on November 14, 1947 and had four children together, Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew, and Prince Edward.
War Veteran
Prince Philip joined the British Royal Navy in 1939 at the outbreak of World War II and saw action during the duration of the war, serving several battleships in the Mediterranean sea.Â
He was at the Tokyo bay providing aid to prisoners of war when Japan surrendered in 1945.
Prince Philip continued to serve the Royal Navy after his marriage to Princess Elizabeth in 1947. But had to leave his career in 1952 following to become a full time working prince consort.
Life of a Prince Consort
Prince Philip, like other husbands of the regnal queens, occupied a peculiar position in the world stage. As the Queen's husband, he had no particular role in the state other than performing royal duties on behalf of the monarchy.Â
Unlike when a king ascend the throne and his wife will be crowned as queen, the Queen's husband could not be crowned a king with her, this is because the constitution has no definition of the role of the spouse of a female monarch.
So Prince Philip occupied such an awkward position in the monarchy, and yet he embraced the role with dedication. "We have got to make this monarchy thing working", he was quoted saying before.
Prince Philip was survived by his wife, Queen Elizabeth II, who will turn 95 this April 21, four children, eight grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.
The last family event he attended was the private wedding of his granddaughter, Princess Beatrice, on July 17, 2020.
Our deep condolences to the royal family. May His Royal Highness rest in peace. He will forever be missed by those who loved him dearly.Â
Prince Philip was such a great loss.
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