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The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (Philippos of Greece and Denmark; born 10 June 1921[N 2]) is the husband of Queen Elizabeth II since 20 November 1947, and her consort since 6 February 1952. He was originally a royal prince of Greece and Denmark, and thus a member of the Danish-German House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, but renounced these titles shortly before his marriage, to be known as Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, his adopted surname an anglicized version of his mother's German family name. On the day before Philip was married, he was granted the style of His Royal Highness by King George VI, and, the next day, was made Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Merioneth, and Baron Greenwich. Queen Elizabeth made Philip a Prince of the United Kingdom in 1957. As consort to the widely travelled Queen and Head of the Commonwealth, Philip has frequently been in the public eye, and is an established public figure in the United Kingdom and in the Commonwealth realms. Certain comments in the public sphere have gained the Prince a reputation for making controversial remarks, of which, some people, as reported by the Associated Press, may find "...inappropriate, offensive or racist...".[2] In addition to his royal duties, the Duke of Edinburgh is also the patron of many organizations, including The Duke of Edinburgh's Award and the University of Cambridge. In particular, he has devoted himself, since visiting the Southern Antarctic Islands in 1956, to raising public awareness of the relationship between humanity and the environment, and has published and spoken widely for half a century on this subject.
[edit] Early lifePhilip was born at the Villa Mon Repos on the island of Corfu on 10 June 1921, the first son and fifth and final child of Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and Princess Alice of Battenberg.[3] Baptized at St. George's Church at the Palaio Forurio (Old Fortress) in Haddokkos a few days after his birth, the Prince's godparents were his paternal line grandmother (Queen Olga of Greece) and the Corfu community, represented by Alexander Kokotos, Mayor of Corfu, and Stylianos Maniariziz, Chairman of the Corfu City Council. Shortly after Philip's birth, his maternal grandfather, Prince Louis of Battenberg, died in London. Louis was a naturalized British citizen and, after long and distinguished service in the Royal Navy, had renounced his German titles, and adopted the surname Mountbatten. Philip and his mother travelled to London while Prince Andrew remained behind in Greece, where he was commanding an army division embroiled in the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922).[4] The war went badly for Greece, and the Turks made large gains. On 22 September 1922, Philip's uncle, the reigning King Constantine I of Greece, was forced to abdicate, and Prince Andrew, along with others, was arrested by the military government. The commander of the army, General Georgios Hatzianestis, and five senior politicians were executed. Prince Andrew's life was believed to be in danger, and Alice was under surveillance. In December, a revolutionary court banished Prince Andrew from Greece for life.[5] The British Royal Navy vessel HMS Calypso evacuated Prince Andrew's family, with Philip carried to safety in a cot made from an orange box. He and his family were taken to France, where they settled in the Saint-Cloud suburb of Paris.[6] [edit] Youth[edit] EducationPhilip was first educated in France. However, in 1928, and under the guiding hand of his uncle, Louis Mountbatten, Earl Mountbatten, the Prince was sent to the United Kingdom to attend Cheam School, living with his grandmother at Kensington Palace and his other uncle, George Mountbatten, Marquess of Milford Haven, at Lynden Manor.[7] In the next three years, all his sisters married German noblemen and moved to Germany, his mother was placed in an asylum after being diagnosed as schizophrenic,[8] and his father moved to a small flat in Monte Carlo. Philip had little contact with his mother for the remainder of his childhood.[9] In 1933, Philip was sent to the cheaper Schule Schloss Salem in Germany, which was owned by one of his brothers-in-law, Berthold, Margrave of Baden. With the rise of Nazism in Germany, Salem's Jewish founder, Kurt Hahn, fled persecution and founded a new school in Gordonstoun, Scotland. After two terms at Salem, Philip moved to Gordonstoun.[10] In 1937, his sister, Cecile, her husband (Georg Donatus, Hereditary Grand Duke of Hesse), her two young sons and her mother-in-law were killed in an air crash at Ostend; Philip, then only sixteen years of age, attended the funeral in Darmstadt. The following year, his uncle and guardian, George Mountbatten, died of bone cancer. [edit] Naval serviceAfter leaving Gordonstoun in 1939, Prince Philip joined the Royal Navy, graduating the next year from the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, as the top cadet in his course.[11] Thereafter commissioned as a midshipman, Philip spent six months on the battleship HMS Ramillies, which was then serving in the Indian Ocean. In January 1941, he was posted to the Mediterranean Fleet aboard the battleship HMS Valliant, where, amongst other engagements, he was involved in the Battle of Crete, was mentioned in despatches for his service during the Battle of Cape Matapan, and was awarded the Greek War Cross of Valour.[11] Duties of lesser glory included stoking the boilers of the troop transport ship RMS Empress of Russia.[12] Prince Philip was promoted to sub-lieutenant, and, after a series of courses, was appointed to the V&W class destroyer and flotilla leader, HMS Wallace, on which he was involved in convoy escort tasks, as well as the allied invasion of Sicily.[13] Promotion to lieutenant followed on 16 July 1942, and in October of the same year he became the Wallace's first lieutenant; at just 21 years of age, Philip was one of the youngest to be appointed a first lieutenant. He moved on to the new destroyer, HMS Whelp, where he saw service with the British Pacific Fleet in the 27th Destroyer Flotilla,[14] including being present in Tokyo Bay when the instrument of Japanese surrender was signed. It was not until January 1946 that Philip returned to Britain on the Whelp, whereafter he served as an instructor at the Petty Officers' School, and attended the Naval Staff College, Greenwich.[11] [edit] MarriageEarl Mountbatten arranged, in 1939, for Philip to meet Princess Elizabeth, the daughter of King George VI. Philip was put in charge of entertaining the King's two daughters while the King and Queen toured Dartmouth Naval College. Elizabeth—who was Philip's third cousin through Queen Victoria, and second cousin, once removed, through Christian IX of Denmark—fell in love with Philip and began to write to him. Seven years later, Philip asked the King for his daughter's hand in marriage, a request which was granted; the Prince was deemed a suitable husband for the future queen because of his royal heritage and an already established experience with royal duties. Louis Mountbatten, however, urged Philip to renounce his Greek and Danish royal titles, as well as his allegiance to the Greek crown, convert from Greek Orthodoxy to the Church of England, and became a naturalized British subject,[N 3] all of which was done by 18 March 1947. Philip thereafter took the name Mountbatten, an Anglicized version of Battenberg, his mother's family name. The day preceding his wedding, King George VI bestowed the style His Royal Highness on Philip, and on the morning of the wedding, 20 November 1947, he was made the Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Merioneth, and Baron Greenwich of Greenwich in the County of London. 
Philip and Elizabeth were married in a ceremony at Westminster Abbey, recorded and broadcast by the BBC. However, in post-war Britain, it was not acceptable for any of the Duke of Edinburgh's German relations to be invited to the wedding, including Philip's three surviving sisters, each of whom had married German princes, some of them with Nazi connections. Once married, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh took up residence at Clarence House, during which time his first son, Prince Charles, and daughter, Princess Anne, were born. Philip was keen to pursue his naval career, though aware that his wife's future role as queen would eventually eclipse his ambitions. Nevertheless, Philip returned to the navy after his honeymoon, and, from 1949, was stationed in Malta, after being posted as the First Lieutenant of the destroyer HMS Chequers, in the Mediterranean Fleet. In 1950, he was promoted to lieutenant commander and given command of the sloop HMS Magpie, after which he was promoted to commander in early 1952.[11] With the King in ill health, Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh were each appointed to the Privy Council on 4 November 1951 (making the Duke now the only remaining member of the council to have been appointed by George VI), after having made a coast to coast tour of Canada.[15] By January of the following year, Philip and his wife had set out on a tour of the Commonwealth, with planned visits to countries throughout Africa, as well as to Australia and New Zealand. However, on 6 February, when they were in Kenya, Elizabeth's father died and she ascended to the throne. It was Philip who broke the news of her father's passing to Elizabeth at the Treetops Hotel, and the royal party immediately returned to the United Kingdom. [edit] Life as consort
[edit] Royal houseThe accession of Elizabeth to the throne brought up the question of the name of the royal house. The Duke's uncle, Louis Mountbatten, advocated the name House of Mountbatten, as Elizabeth would typically have taken Philip's last name on marriage; however, when Queen Mary, Elizabeth's paternal grandmother, heard of this suggestion, she informed the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who himself later advised the Queen to issue a royal proclamation declaring that the royal house was to remain known as the House of Windsor. An Order-in-Council was issued in 1960, which stated the surname of male-line descendants of the Duke and the Queen who are not styled as Royal Highness, or titled as Prince or Princess, was to be Mountbatten-Windsor. This was to address the Duke's complaint that he was the only father in the country unable to pass his name to his children. In practice, however, the Duke's children have all used Mountbatten-Windsor as the surname they prefer for themselves and their male-line children. After her accession to the throne, the Queen also announced that the Duke was to have "place, pre-eminence and precedence" next to her "on all occasions and in all meetings, except where otherwise provided by Act of Parliament". This meant the Duke took precedence over his son, the Prince of Wales, except, officially, in the British parliament. In fact, however, he only attends the British parliament when escorting the Queen for the annual Speech from the Throne, where he walks and is seated beside her. [edit] Duties and milestonesAs consort to the Queen, Philip was required to continue supporting his wife in her duties as sovereign, accompanying her to ceremonies such as the State Opening of Parliament in various countries, state dinners, and tours abroad; in order to dedicate himself to this role, he gave up his naval career upon the Queen's accession.[16] From 1956 to 1957, Philip travelled with the Queen around the world aboard HMY Britannia, and, while in Canada, was appointed to the Queen's Privy Council for Canada. On that same trip, he visited the Antarctic and decided to dedicate himself to the cause of the relationship of humans with their environment.[17] Philip also started to carry out his own engagements, and became patron of a number of organizations, some 800 by 2008.[17] In 1956, he established The Duke of Edinburgh's Award in order to give young people "a sense of responsibility to themselves and their communities"; he also began to focus on industry, giving his patronage to The Work Foundation, touring factories, viewing the oil sands, and the like. He served as President of the World Wildlife Fund since its foundation in 1961 until 1996, thereafter sitting as President Emeritus.[17] The Duke carries out over 300 public engagements a year, more than any other royal except his daughter, Princess Anne.[18] During the Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II in 2002, the Duke was commended by the Speaker of the British House of Commons for his role in supporting the Queen during her reign. Over his fifty years as royal consort, however, Philip became notorious for making remarks during public visits which were regarded as offensive and/or based on stereotypes.[19][20] Some of his now infamous remarks were immediately interpreted as gaffes; but other awkward observations were construed as merely odd, off-colour, or occasionally even funny.[21][22][23] He is the oldest serving consort in British history, though former consorts, such as the Queen Mother, have lived longer lives. On 18 April 2009, he will have been the longest-serving consort in British history (at 57 years and 71 days), surpassing Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. [edit] Health and reduced duties
It was revealed in October 2007 that Prince Philip had been suffering from a heart condition since 1992; body guards protecting the Duke were trained to rush him to medical attention for symptoms as simple as dizzyness and shortness of breath, even against Philip's own wishes. Though he started to take medication for the condition, the Duke refused to reduce his royal duties. In April 2008, Philip was admitted to the King Edward VII Hospital for "assessment and treatment" for a chest infection, though he walked into the hospital unaided and recovered quickly,[24] and was released three days later to recuperate at Windsor Castle.[25] Reports surfaced in August 2008 that Philip had been suffering from prostate cancer, which had been diagnosed in April of that year.[26] Buckingham Palace refused to comment at first, but eventually Philip authorized the release of a statement indicating that, although the palace maintains the right of the Royal Family to privacy, the story was untrue.[27][28] [edit] InterestsPolo was a leisure pastime for Prince Philip in his youth and adult life; though he eventually gave up the sport due to age, he still competes in carriage driving, a sport which he helped expand, and for which he wrote the early rule book.[29] He also painted with oils, as well as collecting the works of others, much of which are contemporary cartoons, and hung at Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, Sandringham House, and Balmoral Castle. This collection carries on a tradition of the Royal Family since the 18th century.[29] In later life, the Duke rediscovered interest in his original Greek Orthodox faith.[30] [edit] Titles, styles, honours and armsPhilip has held a number of titles throughout his life. Originally holding the title and style of the son of a Greek and Danish prince, Philip renounced these royal titles before his marriage, and was thereafter created as a British duke, amongst other noble titles. It was not, however, until the Queen issued Letters Patent in 1957 that Philip was again titled as a prince. When in conversation with the Duke of Edinburgh, the practice is to initially address him as Your Royal Highness and thereafter as Sir. [edit] Honours and honorary military appointmentsUpon his wife's accession to the throne, the Duke of Edinburgh was appointed by her to a number of honorary military positions, including Admiral of the of the Sea Cadet Corps and the Royal Canadian Sea Cadets, and Colonel-in-Chief of the British Army Cadet Force. The following year, he was also made Admiral of the Fleet, Field Marshal, and Marshal of the Royal Air Force in the United Kingdom. He has since been made Admiral, Colonel-in-Chief, Air-Commodore-in-Chief, Captain-General, Honorary Colonel, Field Marshal, Marshal, Honorary Air Commodore, and Royal Honorary Colonel of at least 49 regiments throughout the Commonwealth. Before he became consort, the Duke was appointed to the Order of the Garter on 19 November 1947. Since then, Philip has received 17 different appointments and decorations in the Commonwealth, and 48 by foreign states. The inhabitants of some small villages in Vanuatu also worship Prince Philip as a god; the islanders possess portraits of the Duke and hold feasts on his birthday.[31] [edit] Arms
[edit] AncestryPhilip is currently the oldest living great-great grandchild of Queen Victoria, as well as her second-oldest living descendant after Prince Carl Johan of Sweden. Through mitochondrial DNA analysis in July of 1993, British scientists, through a sample of Prince Philip's blood, were able to identify the remains of several members of Tsaritsa Alexandra Romanov's family, several decades after their 1918 massacre by the Bolsheviks; Prince Philip is the Tsaritsa's grandnephew. [edit] Issue
[edit] Fictional portrayalsActor James Cromwell portrayed Prince Philip in the 2006 Academy Award-winning film, The Queen. A fictionalized Philip (in his capacity as a World War II naval officer) is a minor character in John Birmingham's Axis of Time series of alternate history novels. Prince Philip also appears as a fictional character in Nevil Shute's 1952 novel, In the Wet. [edit] Bibliography
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