72 Facts About Prince Philip

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh was born on Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, Greek:, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021, and was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II.

Prince Philip left active military service when Elizabeth ascended the throne in 1952, having reached the rank of commander.

Sports enthusiast, Prince Philip helped develop the equestrian event of carriage driving.

Prince Philip was a patron, president, or member of over 780 organisations, including the World Wide Fund for Nature, and served as chairman of The Duke of Edinburgh's Award, a youth awards program for people aged 14 to 24.

Prince Philip is the longest-lived male member of the British royal family.

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Prince Philip retired from his royal duties on 2 August 2017, aged 96, having completed 22,219 solo engagements and 5,493 speeches from 1952.

Prince Philip died on 9 April 2021 at Windsor Castle, at the age of 99.

Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark was born on the dining room table in Mon Repos, a villa on the Greek island of Corfu, on 10 June 1921.

Prince Philip was the only son and fifth and final child of Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and Princess Alice of Battenberg.

Prince Philip was baptised in the Greek Orthodox rite at St George's Church in the Old Fortress in Corfu.

In 1930, Prince Philip was sent to the United Kingdom, living with his maternal grandmother, Victoria Mountbatten, Dowager Marchioness of Milford Haven, at Kensington Palace and his uncle, George Mountbatten, 2nd Marquess of Milford Haven, at Lynden Manor in Bray, Berkshire.

Prince Philip had little contact with his mother for the remainder of his childhood.

Prince Philip stated that he thought of himself as Danish, and his family spoke English, French, and German.

Prince Philip graduated from Dartmouth the next year as the best cadet in his course.

On 1 February 1941, Prince Philip was commissioned as a sub-lieutenant after a series of courses at Portsmouth, in which he gained the top grade in four out of five sections of the qualifying examination.

Prince Philip was one of the youngest first lieutenants in the Royal Navy.

Prince Philip devised a plan to launch a raft with smoke floats that successfully distracted the bombers, allowing the ship to slip away unnoticed.

Prince Philip was present in Tokyo Bay when the instrument of Japanese surrender was signed.

Concerned by her father's poor health, Elizabeth insisted that Prince Philip give up smoking, which he did, cold turkey, on their wedding day.

Prince Philip was introduced to the House of Lords on 21 July 1948, immediately before his uncle Louis Mountbatten, who had been made Earl Mountbatten of Burma.

On 30 June 1952, Prince Philip was promoted to commander, though his active naval career had ended in July 1951.

On 5 December 1952, Prince Philip was initiated into Freemasonry by the Worshipful Master of Navy Lodge No 2612, honouring a commitment he had made to the late King, who had made it clear that he expected Prince Philip to maintain the tradition of royal patronage of Freemasonry.

Prince Philip received a Parliamentary annuity that served to meet official expenses in carrying out public duties.

Prince Philip was not himself crowned in the coronation service, but knelt before Elizabeth, with her hands enclosing his, and swore to be her "liege man of life and limb".

From 1956 to 1957, Prince Philip travelled around the world aboard the newly commissioned HMY Britannia, during which he opened the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne and visited the Antarctic, becoming the first royal to cross the Antarctic Circle.

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Prince Philip regarded divorce as a sadness, not a hanging offence.

Prince Philip was appointed to the Queen's Privy Council for Canada on 14 October 1957, taking his Oath of Allegiance before the Queen in person at her Canadian residence, Rideau Hall.

In 1960, Prince Philip attended the National Eisteddfod of Wales wearing a long green robe, where he was initiated as an Honorary Ovate by the Archdruid of Wales Edgar Phillips through his bardic name Prince Philip Meirionnydd, to reflect his title of Earl of Merioneth.

Prince Philip was patron of some 800 organisations, particularly focused on the environment, industry, sport, and education.

Prince Philip was president of the National Playing Fields Association for 64 years, from 1947 until his grandson Prince William took over the role in 2013.

Prince Philip was appointed a fellow of the Royal Society in 1951.

Prince Philip helped found the Australian Conservation Foundation in 1963 and the World Wildlife Fund in 1961 and served as the latter's UK president from 1961 to 1982, international president from 1981, and president emeritus from 1996.

Prince Philip was president of the Zoological Society of London for two decades and was appointed an honorary fellow in 1977.

Prince Philip was president of the International Equestrian Federation from 1964 to 1986, and served as chancellor of the universities of Cambridge, Edinburgh, Salford, and Wales.

In 1965, at the suggestion of Prime Minister Harold Wilson, Prince Philip became chair to a scheme set up for awarding industrial innovations, which later became known as the Queen's Awards for Enterprise.

In 2017, the British Heart Foundation thanked Prince Philip for being its patron for 55 years, during which time, in addition to organising fundraisers, he "supported the creation of nine BHF-funded centres of excellence".

Prince Philip was an Honorary Fellow of St Edmund's College, Cambridge.

At the beginning of 1981, Prince Philip wrote to his eldest son, Charles, counselling him to make up his mind to either propose to Lady Diana Spencer or break off their courtship.

The Queen and Prince Philip hosted a meeting between Charles and Diana, trying to effect a reconciliation, but without success.

Prince Philip wrote to Diana, expressing his disappointment at both Charles's and her extra-marital affairs, and asking her to examine both his and her behaviour from the other's point of view.

Prince Philip found the letters hard to take but nevertheless appreciated that he was acting with good intent.

Prince Philip became the oldest-ever male British royal in February 2013 and the third-longest-lived member of the British royal family in April 2019.

In 2008, Prince Philip was admitted to King Edward VII's Hospital, London, for a chest infection; he walked into the hospital unaided, recovered quickly, and was discharged three days later.

On 4 June 2012, during the celebrations in honour of his wife's Diamond Jubilee, Prince Philip was taken from Windsor Castle to King Edward VII's Hospital suffering from a bladder infection.

In June 2013, Prince Philip was admitted to the London Clinic for an exploratory operation on his abdomen, spending 11 days in hospital.

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On 21 May 2014, the Prince Philip appeared in public with a bandage on his right hand after a "minor procedure" was performed in Buckingham Palace the preceding day.

In June 2017, Prince Philip was taken from Windsor to London and admitted to King Edward VII's Hospital after being diagnosed with an infection.

Prince Philip spent two nights in the hospital and was unable to attend the State Opening of Parliament and Royal Ascot.

Prince Philip retired from his royal duties on 2 August 2017, meeting Royal Marines in his final solo public engagement, aged 96.

On 3 April 2018, Prince Philip was admitted to King Edward VII's Hospital for a planned hip replacement, which took place the next day.

On 17 January 2019,97-year-old Prince Philip was involved in a car crash as his car pulled out onto a main road near the Sandringham Estate.

Prince Philip apologised, and three weeks later voluntarily surrendered his driving licence.

From 20 to 24 December 2019, Prince Philip stayed at King Edward VII's Hospital and received treatment for a "pre-existing condition", in a visit described by Buckingham Palace as a "precautionary measure".

Prince Philip had not been seen in public since attending Lady Gabriella Kingston's wedding in May 2019.

On 16 February 2021, Prince Philip was admitted to King Edward VII's Hospital as a "precautionary measure" after feeling unwell.

On 1 March 2021, Prince Philip was transferred by ambulance to St Bartholomew's Hospital to continue treatment for an infection, and additionally to undergo "testing and observation" relating to a pre-existing heart condition.

Prince Philip died of "old age" on the morning of 9 April 2021 at Windsor Castle, at the age of 99.

Prince Philip was the longest-serving royal consort in world history.

Prince Philip played polo until 1971, when he started to compete in carriage driving, a sport which he helped to expand; the early rule book was drafted under his supervision.

Prince Philip was a keen yachtsman and struck up a friendship in 1949 with boat designer and sailing enthusiast Uffa Fox, in Cowes.

Prince Philip was presented with Royal Air Force wings in 1953, helicopter wings with the Royal Navy in 1956, and his private pilot's license in 1959.

Prince Philip painted with oils and collected artworks, including contemporary cartoons, which hang at Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, Sandringham House, and Balmoral Castle.

Prince Philip was "fascinated" by cartoons about the monarchy and the royal family and was a patron of The Cartoon Museum.

Prince Philip's comment had no effect on Sino-British relations, but it shaped his own reputation.

In September 2021, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution honoured Prince Philip by naming their new state-of-the-art lifeboat Duke of Edinburgh.

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Prince Philip has been portrayed by several actors, including Stewart Granger, Christopher Lee, David Threlfall, James Cromwell, and Finn Elliot, Matt Smith, Tobias Menzies, and Jonathan Pryce.

Originally holding the title and style of a prince of Greece and Denmark, Philip abandoned these royal titles before he married and was thereafter created a British duke, among other noble titles.

Prince Philip was awarded medals from Britain, France, and Greece for his service during World War II, as well as ones commemorating the coronation of George VI and Elizabeth II and the silver, gold and diamond jubilees of Elizabeth.

Prince Philip was appointed by George VI to the Order of the Garter on 19 November 1947, the eve of his wedding.

Since then, Prince Philip received 17 different appointments and decorations in the Commonwealth, and 48 from foreign states.

Prince Philip's paternal grandfather George I of Greece, born Prince William of Denmark, was a brother of Maria Feodorovna, wife of Emperor Alexander III.

Prince Philip's maternal grandmother, Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine, was a sister of Alexandra Feodorovna, wife of Emperor Nicholas II, and Elizabeth Feodorovna, wife of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia.