The Prince Who Was Never King: 10 Interesting Facts About Prince Philip

The husband of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip the Duke of Edinburgh, on Friday passed away at the age of 99, said Buckingham Palace said. In a statement issued on behalf of the 94-year-old monarch, the palace said that the country’s longest-serving royal consort died peacefully at Windsor Castle on Friday morning.

The Duke, who was to mark his 100th birthday on June 10, had been discharged from hospital after a month since he had been admitted there and went on to have a successful heart procedure. The 28-night stay had been his longest spell in hospital after he was first admitted to the King Edward VII Hospital on February 16 before moving to a National Health Service (NHS) specialist St. Bartholomew’s Hospital two weeks later, where he underwent a procedure for a pre-existing heart condition.

The Duke retired from official royal duties in 2017 after years of service in the armed forces and then as a consort to the monarch, with several charity endeavours.

Here are 10 interesting facts you should know about Prince Philip:

1. He was born in 1921 into Greek Royal family but later exiled from Greek and eventually lived in England.

2. He joined the British Royal Navy at the age of 18.

3. Prince Philip also learned from Royal Air Force to fly aircrafts and got his RAF wings in 1953. In 1956, he got a helicopter license and a private pilot’s license in 1959. When he flew his final flight, he had amassed almost 6000 hours of flying experience, in 59 different types of aircraft.

4. Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth met in 1934 at a royal wedding. After this, both began exchanging letters and love bloomed. Then they got married in 1947.

5. By 1950, the couple had two children and lived relatively private life.

6. Things changed in 1952 when Philip’s wife became Queen Elizabeth II at the age of 25.

7. Elizabeth did not give her husband Philip the formal title of ‘Prince”. But in 1957, he was given ‘Prince’ title. By definition, Prince Philip was a prince consort, meaning the husband of a queen, but not automatically a king. He was bestowed with the titles Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Merioneth and Baron Greenwich when he married Elizabeth.

8. He became a commander in the Royal Navy but he had to give up his career in armed forces on his wife’s ascension.

9. By 1964, Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth gave birth to two more children. Prince Philip was very protective of both is family and his stature.

10. At the age of 96, he officially retired from all public engagements. With over 22,000 solo engagements since 1952 and over 5,000 speeches, Prince Philip is the longest serving British consort, according to the palace.

Read all the Latest News, Breaking News and Coronavirus News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Telegram.