Born of Greek parentage, he
would become one of the most talked about consorts in British history.
His life would change
dramatically when he married the future queen of England, Elizabeth.
And we'll take a closer look at this extraordinary figure of diplomatic
cock ups, whose gaffes and plain speaking would ultimately cause much offence.
A man who effortlessly opened his mouth and put his foot in it.
His remarks have been ridiculed many times, although Throughout his life,
he has been described as the backbone of the royal family.
So join me now as we look at the most memorable times of Prince Philip.
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Philip was born in Corfu on 10 June 1921.
The son of HRH Prince Andrew of Greece and Princess Alice of Battenberg.
Yet, Just one year later, King Constantine was forced to abdicate.
The family fled to Paris on a Royal Navy ship;
being exiled to another country was not the best start for this youngster.
However, he was obviously too young to think about it in these terms.
His schooldays were mainly in the eyes of Louis Mountbatten,
an upbringing that confused many at the time.
And more so when Philip later adopted the Mountbatten name.
Some say the relationship was almost like a father
and son, yet Louis was Philips's uncle.
The term uncle dickie was brought into the public domain,
which would not then alienate his birth father.
In 1930 Philip came to England, and he'd live
with his maternal grandmother, Victoria Mountbatten, at Kensington palace.
By now, his father had taken up home in Monte Carlo,
and he had little to do with his mother for the remaining years of his schooling.
His first educational base was Cheam,
but by 1933 had departed for Germany, the advantage being to save on
school fees.
Kurt Hahn, one of his masters at Gordonstoun school in Scotland,
an institute formed after the Jewish teacher
had to flee Germany as the nazi regime was on the rise.
Philip would also leave to study at the new establishment.
Hahn described Philip as a born leader,
his best is outstanding, and his second best is not good enough.
However, he will make his mark in any profession
where he will also have to prove himself in a full trial of strength.
When the second world war began,
Philip was as keen as any other sailor to see action, and he had, over time,
started his navy career as a cadet working his way through the ranks.
He was again advised by his uncle Mountbatten
on the way forward; however, being a prince of Greece
and Greece being neutral in the war, it was seen as dangerous,
and the diplomatic repercussions were not worth considering.
But the Italian invasion of Greece in 1940
would ultimately bring Philip into the firing line.
Philip transferred to the Mediterranean and boarded the Valiant.
Shortly after the ship was bombarded by torpedo bombers just off Sicily.
At the time, the men by his side remember Philip
being as far away as possible from the man we know today.
His royal calling was still a distant dream.
The Greeks eventually overpowered the Italians
and forced them back into Albania.
When Philip reached his 20th birthday, he was reassigned to Britain
to take his lieutenant exams.
He was successful and claimed his prize as a sub-lieutenant in 1942.
While here, living back at Kensington palace,
he was invited to the royal lodge to see the king and queen.
The royals then extended the invite to include a stay for tea, yet
he wasn't alone as both Margaret and Elizabeth joined him.
Romantically speaking, Philip was classed as footloose and fancy-free; girls
constantly pursued him, and he most likely enjoyed the adulation.
But inwardly, he was probably saving himself in the hope of another girl,
one much closer and one with whom he would eventually spend the rest of
his life, Elizabeth.
By the war's end, Philip, now almost 25, had returned to England.
He considered continuing his naval career with advice
from his uncle dickie, who was all for his plan.
The one stumbling block was that if he were to go down
this road, he would have to gain full British citizenship,
but naturalisation was still in suspension due to the war.
The king would often spend time at the royal lodge, and Philip frequently
visited, not to see the king, of course, but to grab a glimpse of Elizabeth.
The couple were now becoming much closer, and to be alone, Philip
would take Elizabeth for a ride in his MG, not a mode of transport
this young princess was accustomed to, but she never refused.
Although king George knew of this romance, he couldn't quite believe
that his daughter had fallen for virtually the first man she had ever really gotten to know.
George suggested she look around a bit more before
making a life-changing decision.
But she didn't, so George did the scouting,
but all the eligible new men now being invited around knew
their chances were slim at best; Elizabeth was besotted with Philip.
George relented; he could see that attempting to intervene wasn't working.
Although still in no hurry
to see his eldest daughter married, time was running out.
King George never disliked Philip; the more he saw him, the closer they got.
It was pretty much a father having to give his daughter away,
a predicament that has and will still cause anxiety
to most fathers when the time comes to say goodbye.
Despite the growing attention,
the inevitable finally happened, and the couple was officially endorsed.
Philips's life changed dramatically; he was to join the royal family.
Until then, he had always been his own man doing his own thing.
As of now, though, he became public property,
and a much different state of affairs was to begin.
Although Philip was no longer a prince
after his naturalisation from Greece, he became a British citizen.
George thought giving Philip
an HRH title would automatically make him a prince again.
But it didn't;
it wasn't until several years of Elizabeth being the queen that this changed.
The British public had little to no idea what the fuss
would have been about as they had always called him prince Philip.
Philip and Elizabeth were married at Westminster Abbey
on 20 November 1947.
Philip sighed to the Mountbatten butler John Dean after the ceremony saying,
"thank goodness that is over." It was time to face the crowds again
as they would travel by state coach to Victoria station
for the waiting royal train to whisk them away for the honeymoon.
As honeymoons go, Philip, a man, decided to travel light
with one large and one small suitcase.
As we know, brides are different, and Elizabeth managed
15 bags, enough room for clothing for every occasion.
She'd also take her favourite pet Corgi, Susan,
just for good measure.
When Elizabeth became queen in 1953,
few things went Philip's way in the early phase of her monarchy.
He loved being at Clarence House.
For him, it was his first proper home, but Buckingham palace was the office;
his view on this, like many previous tenants,
was that the palace was nothing more than an icebox.
Maybe his choice of words was already having an impact,
and more would certainly come out over the years.
Quite possibly, his role as consort was confusing;
neither himself nor others seemed capable of deciding what he should do.
And the majority didn't even care.
The four previous consorts
from history offered little in the way of guidance or encouragement.
Mary Tudors, Philip of Spain, was hardly in the country.
William of Orange had made himself king to Mary's queen,
which Philip had no desire to do and George of Denmark,
the consort to queen Anne, did little more than sire 17 children,
none of whom survived into their teens.
Victoria's consort Albert is the most recent, and he said, "
the consort has no other duty than to sink
his own individual existence into that of his wife."
Before marriage,
Philip had a say, but now the majority of people connected
preferred the queen to be the spokesperson, and by all accounts,
Elizabeth, now in this new role, preferred it to be that way.
But Philip was never left out;
at times of advice, the queen would often turn to her husband
rather than the top-level royal aides who had been trusted so much
under her father's reign.
Rifts in the royal family have always been a favourite of the press
and a straightforward way to boost circulation.
So fights splits, and even threats of divorce
are juicy items the tabloids love to cover.
Such stories began to circulate.
Philip was going through what can only be described as a spell of disenchantment.
His early years in his consort role were not what he expected.
Mistresses were all the talk of the town, but the press just pinned
many of the stories circulating on Philip.
However, he did have a desire for one lady.
The initial affair
rumour persisted longer than any others because of its prominence.
Speculation grew that in 1948
the Duke of Edinburgh had an affair with the West End performer Pat Kirkwood.
Considering that Elizabeth was eight months pregnant with the couple's
first child, the news of the suspected romance came as quite a shock.
Although the altercation threatened to damage the royal couple's marriage,
Philip had been frustrated about the furore;
as for Elizabeth, she was feeling distressed and rightly so.
But when the whole saga died down, and realisation set in
for the couple it would secure their life together.
Each would now see their roles in a different refreshing light.
It was a gradual process,
but both Elizabeth and Philip grew stronger over time.
Philip had always shown signs that his masculinity was a magnet
to the ladies, and other lovers have been brought to light.
However, he was more of a man's man and enjoyed nothing more than being
with his friends at regimental parties or on the flight deck of an aircraft.
His loyalty seemed secure and was never questioned,
and such was their enthusiasm it was inevitable that more royal children
would soon be present to boost the family.
Throughout his married life, Philip was always in
what can only be described in royal circles as in good voice.
Unfortunately, his voice often rendered stunned glances at him
as he was, without doubt,
a man who generally put his mouth in gear before his brain.
Yet some of these moments have been categorised as funny,
as others are just cruel and unexplained.
Here is a selection of his outspoken views!
In 1986, while visiting China, he warned a British student
that if they stayed for too long, they would have "slitty eyes."
After touring the Aboriginal Cultural Park
in Queensland in 2002, he posed the question to Aboriginal leader
William Brin: "Do you still hurl spears at each other?"
He was never one to charm; in 2002, he visited a nursing home.
One of the residents was quietly sitting in her wheelchair when in walked Philip,
and he said, "do people trip over you." Again in 2012,
he spoke to a disabled senior citizen on a motorised scooter and said, "How
many people have you knocked over this morning on that thing?"
He was the least subtle person imaginable,
and his blunders continued throughout his life.
On a trip to a fuse box factory in August 1999,
the duke gave his opinion of an installed box as part of a display.
He said, "It seems like an Indian installed it."
after further thought and quite possibly some guidance from his royal entourage,
he elaborated, saying, "I meant to say, cowboys.
I just got my cowboys and Indians mixed up.
Each speech or comment
now brought with it more ridicule and criticism from politicians,
bureaucrats, trade union bosses and even do-gooders
who saw first-hand that Philip was making a real mess and that his best option
was to stay quiet or move away from any controversial chats.
But the general public, the commoner in the street, loved him for his outbursts.
It was simply Philip saying, perhaps more sublimely and elegantly,
the thoughts of millions of ordinary people,
and it was the language that most knew but never said.
Of course, it doesn't for one moment make it right.
But more than any other royal, Philip was responsible for hauling the royal family
out of the Victorian atmosphere, which still lingered when his wife became queen.
The duke has been reduced to the stereotype
of an eccentric great-uncle who has been around for years
and is loved by all but frequently embarrasses himself
and others in public with his salty jokes and insensitive comments.
Prince Philip died on 21 April 2021 at the age of 99.
He was once asked about his life and how it had transformed his character.
He replied by saying he had always supported the queen throughout
but never saw himself as a leader.
His achievements were often played down.
In 1948 he accepted the freedom of the city of London.
He said, " our only distinction was that we did what we were told to do,
to the best of our ability and kept on doing it."
Maybe more secrets are yet to be uncovered about him.
But his Will which has been placed under probate, according to the law,
and will not be made public for at least 90 years.
it's unlikely by then that anyone will really care anymore!
Yet, as we previously stated,
the duke led much of his life in the shadow of his queen.
A man who romped through royal life, giving
insight and priceless collections of memories.
But I think deep down; most people believe Philip was,
without doubt, and still is a national treasure.