The Late Prince Philip Said He 'Just Got On With It' After His 'Family Broke Up'

Apr 05, 2022 by apost team

Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth II's husband, died at age 99 on April 9, 2021. Having been married to Queen Elizabeth II for more than 70 years, he was the longest-serving spouse of any British monarch. In Britain, flags around the country were hung at half-mast in mourning of the royal family's loss.

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.

However, after his retirement, his health deteriorated. 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.

Although Prince Philip served by the Queen's side for decades, much of his life isn't public knowledge. He is a fundamental part of the British royal family; however, Prince Philip was born overseas in Corfu, Greece, the son of Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark. When he was a young child Prince Philip was forced into exile with his family. In order to marry Queen Elizabeth, he renounced his Greek and Danish titles and took on his mother's maiden name of Mountbatten.

Unlike his wife and children, Prince Philip had a turbulent and lonely childhood. He was effectively abandoned by his parents and left to live with family members until he could go off to boarding school. Keep reading to learn more about the Duke of Edinburgh's difficult upbringing.

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 reported that his family was exiled from Greece when he was only an infant, which led to a lot of turbulence in his early life. 

The Duke of Edinburgh 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, 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.

Later, Prince Philip was unhappy that his children would not take his last name, so he protested this decision. The Queen issued a declaration in 1960 that "all the Queen's children, on occasions when they needed a surname, would have the surname Mountbatten-Windsor."

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The Duke of Edinburgh had quite a turbulent childhood. The prince spent much of his early years alone and didn't have a typical upbringing. His mother had a mental health condition, and his father moved to the South of France. Prince Philip also had four older sisters, all of whom married German princes, leaving the young boy to live with first his grandmother and then his aunts and uncles.

Speaking to Town and Country, Philip Eade, author of "Young Prince Philip," said:

"Whereas the Queen experienced a very close-knit and happy family life—apart from the Abdication in 1936 when she was 10—Philip's childhood was far more turbulent." 

Prince Philip did his best to maintain a positive attitude and overcome the difficulties of his childhood. "It's simply what happened," he once said. "The family broke up. My mother was ill, my sisters were married, my father was in the South of France. I just had to get on with it. You do. One does."

Due to his lack of familial bonds, when Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth married, none of his family was there to witness the occasion. "Not one of them received an invitation to the wedding at Westminster Abbey," Eade wrote.

The Duke of Edinburgh was known for his reserved demeanor as the Queen's consort, and this may have been developed from his difficult upbringing. Eade also wrote:

"Although he bravely overcame his childhood traumas, the break up of his family and losing the constant loving support of his parents help explain why his emotional reserve became as noticeable as his bluff, controlled, no-nonsense exterior."

Did you know about Prince Philip's childhood? Do you think it shaped the person he became? Let us know, and feel free to send this on to your friends and loved ones.