Prince Philip: Queen Elizabeth’s II Consort 

Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, the deceased husband of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, and the father of Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, and the apparent heir of the British throne.

Prince Philip is referred to in full as Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Merioneth, and Baron Greenwich. Also called Philip Mountbatten, as he went by his mother’s surname upon his marriage to the Queen.

His Birth and Childhood

He was born on June 10, 1921, in Corfu, Greece. The Duke of Edinburgh was the youngest and the only male-born of Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark, and Princess Alice of Battenberg, and the grandchild of King George I of Greece and King Christian IX of Denmark, thus making him the heir to the throne of Greece and Denmark.

Following his birth, Prince Philip was baptized in the Greek Orthodox rite at St. George’s Church in the Old Fortress in Corfu

Considering his family being exiled from their home country Prince Philip was mainly raised in the United Kingdom, along with his four sisters.

While his mother was diagnosed with schizophrenia and his father relocated his residence to Monte Carlo, Prince Philip had a series of guardians during his youth including Lord Milford Haven.

His Education

In his early years, the Duke of Edinburgh attended an American school in Paris called the Elms, he then was sent to continue his education in the United Kingdom at Cheam school. During his years at Cheam, the prince took residence at Kensington Palace with his maternal grandmother, and spend some time at Lynden Manor in Bray, Berkshire with his uncle George Mountbatten.

Due to his sister’s marriage to a German prince, Prince Philip attended Schule Schloss Salem in Germany and managed to save up school fees since the institution was owned by his brother-in-law’s family.

Following the death of his sister and her husband, Prince Philip resumed his education in the United Kingdom and studied at Gordonstoun School in Scotland, and then became a cadet at the Royal Naval College in England and graduated and as the best cadet of his class.

His Military Service

Prince Philip served in the Royal Navy during World War II and fought in the raging combats in the Mediterranean and the Pacific. The Duke’s service with the Royal Navy during WW II lasted from January 1940 until the end of the war in 1945.

During his service, Prince Philip was named sub-lieutenant in 1941 and then promoted to lieutenant in 1942.

His Marriage to the Queen

In 1947 Prince Philip took up his maternal surname renounced his right to the Greek and Danish thrones, thus becoming a British subject.

In November of the same year, the Marriage of Prince Philip and his distant cousin Queen Elizabeth II took place at Westminster Abbey.

Due to his marriage to the Queen of the United Kingdom, he was referred to as ‘His Royal Highness’ and was named as Knight of the Garter, Baron Greenwich, Earl of Merioneth, and duke of Edinburgh.

After marriage, Prince Philip continued his service in the Royal Navy until the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1952. After this, the Prince accompanied his spouse in official engagements and sherd the duties of her public life.

In 1975, the Queen honored the Duke of Edinburgh by granting him the title ‘Prince of the United Kingdom’, and later in 1960 Prince Philip’s surname “Mountbatten” was combined with the Queen’s surname “Windsor” to become “Mountbatten-Windsor”.

The Royal couple had four children: Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Edward, and Prince Andrew.

Prince Philip stopped carrying official duties and engagements in the name of the Queen in 2017, at the age of 95. His last official engagement was meeting up with the Marines in August 2017. Until that date, the Prince had made more than 22000 solo appearances during his time as the Queen consort.

His Death

Being the longest-serving royal consort, Prince Philip died on April 9, 2021, at the age of 99. His death at Windsor castle came 2 months before the celebration of his 100 birthday. The Queen expressed her sorrow and described her husband’s death as having left a ‘’huge void’’ in her life.

His burial ceremony took place on 17 April 2021 at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, and he was laid to rest in the Royal Vault inside St George’s.