10
Jun
Prince Philip's birthday
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh becomes 98 this Monday.
On the Duke of Edinburgh's birthday, some public celebrations are planned: a 41-gun salute by the KTRHA in Hyde Park at noon and by the HAC (62 guns) at Gun Wharf, Tower of London at 13:00.
While His Royal Highness enjoys a well-deserved retirement at his Wood Farm cottage on the Sandringham estate in Norfolk, the rest of the world seems partly forgetting the man has served his country truthfully and now he has all rights to relax as he pleases – by reading, painting, driving, meeting with friends, etc.
Even the British press seems to have refused to accept HRH's 'resignation', constantly asking on D-Day and Trooping the Colour parade where the old chap was, while a simple word 'retirement' should be enough to let him have some peace of mind from the media and public. Since the majority of us seem to miss HRH, let us recall the eventful life Prince Philip has lived up to his present solid age.
The future husband of Queen Elizabeth II was born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark on 10th June 1921, in Mon Repos on the Greek island of Corfu
He was the only son out of five children of Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark, and Princess Alice of Battenberg. He was baptized in the Greek Orthodox rite at St George's Church on Corfu.
On 22nd September 1922, Philip's uncle, King Constantine I of Greece was forced to abdicate while his father, Prince Andrew was arrested and later exiled from the country.
Leaving the birthplace as an infant, Philip never had a strong grasp of the Greek language. He stated that he has always thought of himself as Danish while his family spoke English, French, and German. At first, Philip was educated in the American school in Paris. His headmaster, Donald MacJannet described the boy as a "know it all smarty person, but always remarkably polite".
Philip's maternal grandfather, Louis Mountbatten, was a naturalised British citizen, who had a career in the Royal Navy. During WWI, owing to anti-German sentiment in Great Britain, Louis had renounced his German title of Prince and adopted an Anglicised version of his surname, Mountbatten.
Due to the family connection, the 7-year-old lad was sent to the United Kingdom to live with his maternal grandmother, Victoria Mountbatten and his uncle, George Mountbatten while he attended Cheam School.
In the next three years, the life of a boy faced the line of changes: his four sisters – Margarita, Theodora, Cecilie, and Sophie – married German princes and moved to Germany; his mother, Princess Alice was placed in an asylum after being diagnosed with schizophrenia; his father, Prince Andrew moved to live in Monte Carlo.
In 1933 Philip was sent to Germany to study in Schule Schloss Salem owned by the family of his brother-in-law. With the rise of the Nazi Party, Salem's Jewish founder, Jyrt Hahn fled to Scotland, where he founded Gordonstoun School.
After two terms at Salem, Philip moved to Gordonstoun. On 16th November 1937, Princess Cecilie and her entire family died in a crash near Ostend, Belgium, while on their way to London, England, when their aircraft hit a tall factory chimney. Philip had to go to Germany for the funeral. Next year he lost his uncle and guardian Lord Milford Haven.
In early 1939 Philip completed his education at the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, and lived a whole month with his mother in Athens, Greece. In September he returned to Britain, resumed his training for the Royal Navy, and graduated from Dartmouth the next year as the best cadet in his course. During WWII served in the British forces while two of his brothers-in-law fought on the German side. Notably, Philip was located in Tokyo Bay when the Japanese surrender document was signed on 2nd September 1945.
In 1939 King George VI of the United Kingdom and Queen Elizabeth visited the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth. Since King's daughters, Elizabeth and Margaret were Philip's third cousins through Queen Victoria, and second cousins once removed through King Christian IX of Denmark, the young man was asked to escort the Royal Princesses.
Elizabeth was the same age as Shakespeare's Juliet while Philip was only a year elder than Romeo. Although they have met first time back in 1934, it was during the 1939 visit to Dartmouth when a young teenager fell in love with the handsome Greek. From July 1939 they began to correspond.
In the summer of 1946, Philip asked George VI for his daughter's hand in marriage. The King granted permission with one condition, to delay the formal engagement until Elizabeth's twenty-first birthday the following April. By March 1947, Philip had abandoned his Greek and Danish Royal titles to adopt the surname Mountbatten, and had become a naturalised British subject.
Right before the wedding, Philip was created Duke of Edinburgh, and he married Princess Elizabeth on 20th November 1947.
On 30th June 1952, Philip was promoted to commander. It was Philip who broke the news about her father's death to Elizabeth. As she became queen, he left active military service.
In 1957 Philip was made a British Prince. Contrary to rumours over the years, the insiders claim that the Queen and Duke have had a strong relationship throughout their marriage, despite the challenges of life they faced as Royals and parents.
The Queen called Prince Philip her "constant strength and guide" when making a speech during her Diamond Jubilee in 2012.
On 20th November 2017, the Royal couple has celebrated the 70th wedding anniversary. Elizabeth II is the first British monarch to celebrate a platinum wedding anniversary.
Prince Philip is the longest-serving consort of a reigning British monarch and the oldest ever male member of the British Royal Family.
On 2nd August 2017, he retired from his royal duties, having completed 22,219 solo engagements since 1952. The 96-year-old met Royal Marines in his final solo public engagement.
As someone, who goes by nickname popcult, commented on the documentary about Prince Philip on YouTube: He is "one of the last men in the West who dares to be a real man". No wonder he is loved by men and women, and not only within the United Kingdom.
He's not rude.
He's not eccentric.
He's not politically incorrect.
He's British!...
Long live those who understand this man, and most certainly, long live Prince Philip together with the Queen!
