Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh Dies at Age 99 at Windsor Castle

SkyNews coverage of the death of The Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip, has died. YouTube Tips ⓘ

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh the lifelong companion of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, has died, Buckingham Palace announced Friday, April 9, 2021. He was 99 (born June 10, 1921). The Duke of Edinburgh, who married the then-Princess Elizabeth in 1947, was the longest-serving consort in British history. He died at Windsor Castle Friday morning following a recent hospitalization from February 16 to March 16 for treatment of a pre-existing heart condition and infection. He spend time at King Edward VII’s hospital in central London and St Bartholomew’s for the heart procedure.

Philip was born into the Greek and Danish royal families. He was born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark in Greece, but his family was exiled from the country when he was eighteen months old because of alleged leadership failure during the Greco-Turkish War from 1919 to 1922. Philip’s uncle and high commander of the Greek expeditionary force, King Constantine I, was blamed for the defeat and was forced to abdicate on September 27, 1922. The new military government arrested Philips father, Prince Andrew, and others. The commanding officer of the Greek army, General Georgios Hatzianestis, and five senior politicians, were arrested, tried, and executed in the Trial of the Six. In December, Prince Andrew was banished from Greece for life, and the British naval vessel HMS Calypso evacuated Prince Andrew and his family to France. The family settled in the Paris suburb of Saint-Cloud in a house lent to them by his wealthy aunt, Princess George of Greece and Denmark.

After being educated in France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, Philip joined the British Royal Navy in 1939, at age 18. From July 1939, Philip began corresponding with the thirteen-year-old Princess Elizabeth, whom he had first met in 1934. Training for the Royal Navy, Philip graduated from Dartmouth in 1941 as the best cadet in his course.

During World War II he served with distinction in the Mediterranean and Pacific Fleets. While second in command of HMS Wallace, he saved the ship from a night bomber attack by devising a plan to launch a raft with smoke floats that successfully distracted the bombers from attacking HMS Wallace. After the war, Philip was granted permission by George VI to marry Elizabeth. Before the official announcement of their engagement in July 1947, he abandoned his Greek and Danish titles and styles, became a naturalized British subject, and adopted his maternal grandparents’ surname Mountbatten. Philip and Elizabeth married on November 20, 1947. Just before the wedding, he was granted the style His Royal Highness and created Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Merioneth, and Baron Greenwich by King George VI. Philip left active military service when Elizabeth became queen in 1952, having reached the rank of commander.

Philip was made a British prince in 1957. He was the longest-serving consort of a reigning British monarch and the longest-lived male member of the British royal family. He retired from his royal duties on August 2, 2017, aged 96, having completed 22,219 solo engagements since 1952. Philip died two months before his 100th birthday.

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