Prince Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, died Thursday. He was two months short of his 100th birthday.
Here is a look at his life.
His young life
Prince Philip of Greece was born on June 10, 1921, on the island of Corfu to Prince Andrew of Greece and Princess Alice of Battenberg, a great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria.
When he was a year old, his family was banished from Greece when his uncle, the king at the time, was overthrown after a coup d’etat.
England’s King George V sent a ship to rescue his second cousin’s family. Philip, his four sisters and his parents were taken to Italy.
As a youngster, he began his education in France but moved to England when he was 7. By that time, his parents had divorced, with his father going to the south of France with his mistress, and his mother being committed to a mental hospital suffering from schizophrenia.
He went to school in Germany when he was 12, moved back to England after two terms at the school, and was then sent to Gordonstoun school in Scotland.
Meeting Elizabeth
He became a cadet at the Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth, and it was there he met then Princess Elizabeth when he was chosen to escort her and her younger sister, Princess Margaret, while King George VI and Queen Elizabeth toured the college.
Philip was 18 and Elizabeth was 13.
By 1940, Philip graduated and entered military service, and by 1942, he became one of the youngest first lieutenants in the Royal Navy.
Philip and Elizabeth kept in touch after they met, exchanging letters and visiting each other.
In the summer of 1946, Philip asked Elizabeth’s father, King George VI, for permission to marry her. The couple married on Nov. 20, 1947, as millions listened to the service on the radio. Prior to the wedding, Philip renounced his Greek title and became a British citizen.
King George gave him the titles of His Royal Highness, the Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Merioneth and Baron Greenwich.
He returned to naval duty after the wedding, but in 1952 would have to give up his career when King George VI died, making Elizabeth the queen of England.
At the couple’s 50th wedding anniversary, the Queen paid tribute to her husband, saying, “He is someone who doesn’t take easily to compliments, but he has quite simply been my strength and stay all these years. And I, and his whole family, and this and many other countries, owe him a debt greater than he would ever claim or we shall ever know.”
Royal service
When Elizabeth became queen, Philip would have to adjust to a life where he would always in the background. He bowed before her during her coronation, pledging to be her “liegeman of life and limb.”
During his life, he was a royal patron, president or member of more than 780 organizations. He helped to found and served as chairman of The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, a self-improvement program for young people aged 14 to 24.
At his death on Thursday, he was the longest-serving consort of a reigning British monarch, and the third longest-lived male member of the British royal family.
He retired from his royal duties on Aug. 2, 2017, having completed 22,219 solo engagements since 1952. He was 96 years old.
His family
Philip and Elizabeth have four children: Prince Charles, born in 1948; Princess Anne, born in 1950; Prince Andrew, born in 1960; and Prince Edward, born in 1964.
Three of his four children divorced.
He has eight grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.
His interests
Philip was known as being an outdoorsman and sports enthusiast. He played polo and competed in carriage driving.
He was also an artist, took flying lessons after he married Elizabeth and was an accomplished sailor.
His “gaffes”
Philip was also known for being blunt, and at times making awkward or uncomfortable comments. During an address in 1960, he called his gaffes “Dontopedalogy,” saying it “is the science of opening your mouth and putting your foot in it, a science which I have practiced for a good many years.”
Philip was accused of mocking a blind boy when he met Stephen Menary, an army cadet blinded by an IRA bomb. Elizabeth asked how much sight he retained after the incident, Philip quipped: “Not a lot, judging by the tie he’s wearing.”
Menary said he did not take offense at Philip’s remark.
Sources: BBC, The Associated Press, Royal UK, Biography.com
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