Prince Philip Dies At 99, After An Exemplary Life Of Duty And Service To Both His Country And His Wife, Queen Elizabeth II

Prince Philip, husband to Queen Elizabeth II, has died at the age of 99.

The Daily Wire reported, “Buckingham Palace announced Philip’s death on Friday. The elderly prince has had a host of health problems and had surgery on his heart last month.”

“It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen announces the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle,” a message posted to the royal family’s website says. “Further announcements will be made in due course. The Royal Family join with people around the world in mourning his loss.”

Born into the Greek and Danish royal families, Philip’s family was exiled from Greece — his country of birth — when he was just eighteen months old. After being educated at an American school in Paris, Cheam School in the United Kingdom, Schule Schloss Salem boarding school in Germany, and Gordonstoun School in Scotland, Philip joined the British Royal Navy in 1939 at the age of eighteen.

It was in July 1939 that he first began corresponding with Princess Elizabeth — who was thirteen-years-old at the time — whom he had first met in 1934. After graduating from the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, as the best cadet in his course, he served in the British forces during World War II.

He was appointed as a midshipman in January 1940 in the Royal Navy, spending four months on the battleship HMS Ramillies protecting Australian convoys in the Indian Ocean. He was also posted to HMS Kent, HMS Shropshire and in Ceylon. After Italy invaded Greece in October 1940, he was transferred to the battleship HMS Valiant in the Mediterranean Fleet.

He was involved in the battle of Crete, as well as the battle of Cape Matapan, and was later awarded the Greek War Cross. In 1942, he was appointed to the destroyer and flotilla leader HMS Wallace, which was involved in the Allied invasion of Sicily and the escort of convoys on the east coast of Britain.

In 1942, as second in command of HMS Wallace, he saved the ship from a night bomber attack. In 1944, he moved to the destroyer HMS Whelp, where he saw service with the British Pacific Fleet in the 27th Destroyer Flotilla, and was present in Tokyo Bay when the instrument of Japanese surrender was signed.

After the war, in 1946, Philip asked King George VI for Princess Elizabeth’s hand in marriage. King George granted his request, with a formal engagement delayed until Elizabeth turned 21 the following spring. The day prior to the wedding, King George bestowed the style of Royal Highness on Philip. On the morning of November 20, 1947 — the day of Philip and Prince Elizabeth’s wedding — Philip was made the Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Merioneth, and Baron Greenwich of Greenwich in the County of London.

That day, Philip and Elizabeth were married at Westminster Abbey — which has hosted numerous royal weddings, including Prince William’s marriage to Catherine Middleton — while 200 million people worldwide listened to the BBC radio broadcast of the ceremony. 

In the decades that followed, Prince Philip dedicated his life to public service. In 1956, he founded The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, which aimed to give young people “a sense of responsibility to themselves and their communities.” The award program still runs today. That same year, he opened the Summer Olympic Games in Melbourne, and also became the first royal family member to cross the Antarctic Circle. 

Throughout his life, Philip was patron of approximately 800 organizations, and served as the president of many others — including the National Playing Fields Association for 64 years, and the World Wildlife Fund. He also served as chancellor of the universities of Cambridge, Edinburgh, Salford, and Wales.

In April 2009, Prince Philip became Britain’s longest-serving royal consort. In February 2013, he became the oldest male member of the British royal family in its history. On the subject of his age in 2000, Prince Philip — who was known for his wit and dry sense of humor — said that he could not “imagine anything worse” than old age, and that he had “no desire whatsoever” to reach the age of 100-years-old, saying “bits of me are falling off already.”

It wasn’t until June 2011 that, during an interview marking his 90th birthday, Prince Philip announced that he would be reducing his duties, saying that he had “done [his] bit.” For his birthday, Queen Elizabeth gave him the title of Lord High Admiral. In August 2017, Prince Philip retired from his royal duties, meeting with Royal Marines in his final solo public engagement at the age of 96, having joined the royal family 70 years prior, and having completed a remarkable 22,219 solo engagements since 1952. In November, he celebrated his 70th wedding anniversary with Queen Elizabeth.

On April 9, 2021, Prince Philip died at the age of 99, just two months before his 100th birthday. His life was an exemplary act of dutiful service to his country —and to Queen Elizabeth II — dedicating his life to both its protection during World War II, and the continuation of its centuries of tradition as a member of the royal family.

As the generations pass, Prince Philip’s style of strength, duty and honor will hopefully stand as an example to others in our ever more selfish and self-obsessed world.

Ian Haworth is an Editor and Writer for The Daily Wire. Follow him on Twitter at @ighaworth.

The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

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