Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh's Astonishing Life From Childhood To Duty

Apr 13, 2021 by apost team

Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, retired from his royal duties in 2017 at the age of 95, removing himself from the public eye. Before stepping back, he was considered one of the busiest royals, having had more than 22,000 solo appearances, according to Encyclopedia Britannica. However, since his retirement, his health has slowly deteriorated - admittedly not unexpected for a man of his age. In 2018, he underwent hip surgery ahead of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding. Less than a year later, Philip was also in a car accident, which led to him voluntarily relinquishing his license.

Just nine weeks ago, Philip was admitted to King Edward VII's Hospital in London on February 16 on a precautionary basis since he reportedly felt unwell. Following his admission, the prince underwent surgery for a heart condition.

Buckingham Palace released a statement following his March 16 release from the hospital that called the procedure "successful." Unfortunately, his long life caught up with the Duke just a few weeks later. According to statements made by the family, his passing was peaceful, and he was surrounded by family.

Over his long life, Prince Philip was known for many things: his steadfast duty, his devotion to his wife of 74 years, and his straightforward, at times even acerbic style of talking. He did not mince words and was often quite outspoken about his opinions, even if the choice of words was not appropriate or the opinion not appreciated by those whom he was talking to. However, his charming wit and dutiful nature afforded him a bit of leeway.

Prince Philip was born June 10, 1921, in Mon Repos, Corfu, Greece. In fact, Prince Philip was born as a royal, originally inheriting the title of the Prince of Greece and Denmark. However, Biography reports that his family was exiled from Greece when he was only an infant, which led to a lot of turbulence in his early life. He was reared mainly in Great Britain, being educated at Gordonstoun School in Scotland, followed by his attendance at the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth, England. He met his future wife, Elizabeth, for the first time in 1934, when both families attended the marriage of his cousin to Elizabeth's uncle and met once again when Elizabeth's father, George VI, was crowned.

Their love story began when 13-year-old Elizabeth developed a crush on the 18-year-old Prince Philip, who was a naval cadet at the time. She started writing him letters, which he responded to while he was on active duty serving in the Royal Navy. According to Biography, the relationship truly blossomed when young Prince Philip saw young Elizabeth perform in the pantomime "Aladdin" in 1943. Their relationship continued to become stronger through the years, and Prince Philip asked Elizabeth to marry him in 1946. 

Before he got married, he was required to give up his titles and succession to the throne in Greece. He did so willingly and took on his mother's surname Mountbatten. Originally a German noble family, Prince Philip's grandparents changed their name from the original German version of "Battenberg" to an English translation when they adopted English nationality during World War I.

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Philip continued his military service with the Royal Navy after his marriage. He was promoted to lieutenant commander and given command of the HMS Magpie, a frigate ship, in 1950. 

"It's easy to look at the military career of a royal male and see it as a rite of passage, but with Philip one needs to look beyond that," said Ashley Jackson, a professor of imperial and military history, of Philip's military career.

"This wasn't a brief dalliance in the military. It's important to note that he's clearly an exceptional officer."

Of course, many people will also remember Philips's many witty comments and verbal missteps. Even he himself acknowledged that he often had unfortunate moments of frank speech, even coining a special term for it in 1960:

"Dontopedalogy is the science of opening your mouth and putting your foot in it, a science which I have practised for a good many years."

Aside from his wit and long and exceptional service as a Naval officer, Philip also took up many appearances as a senior royal and worked on several personal projects. Among those is The Duke of Edinburgh's Award (DofE), a youth program originally designed to offer an alternative to the Boy Scouts. It was not necessary to officially 'join' any association, and the participating children do not need to wear a uniform. Nowadays, the program is present in 144 countries and offers youths of both genders chances at self-improvement by offering classes in sports, arts, physical or social skills, volunteer work, or 'expeditions,' that is, spending time in nature. The DofE award offers different programs for youths aged 14 to 25.

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