The Duke of Edinburgh, the husband of British Queen Elizabeth II, has died, according to a statement released by Buckingham Palace.
He was 99 years old, making him the monarchy’s longest-serving and oldest-ever consort.
It was announced in a statement that “Her Majesty The Queen declares the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.”
“His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle.”
On February 17, the duke was admitted to the King Edward VII Hospital in London after becoming ill. He was being treated for an illness, according to the palace.
On March 1, he was moved to London’s St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, where doctors managed to monitor his infection while still conducting tests for pre-existing heart disease. The duke was released from the hospital in mid-March after undergoing heart surgery.
He, also known as the Duke of Edinburgh, was the longest-serving British consort in history. After a courtship that charmed a country still reeling from the ravages of World War II, he married Princess Elizabeth in 1947.
The Duke of Edinburgh often joined the Queen on royal engagements and made thousands of solo appearances during his seven decades of service. He was once dubbed “the world’s most seasoned plaque unveiler,” and the Queen praised him as her “constant power and guide.”
The duke was notorious for his swift wit and off-the-cuff comments, which rarely missed the mark, often spectacularly. Philip managed to perform in public long into his nineties, retiring only in August 2017.
He was involved with over 800 organisations and funded a host of philanthropic causes. He founded the Duke of Edinburgh Awards Scheme, a youth leadership initiative that now runs in over 130 countries and territories worldwide.
The Prince has spent a lot of time after he retired at the Queen’s rural Sandringham farm. In later years, he was regularly seen at private family functions such as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s wedding and Princess Eugenie’s wedding to Jack Brooksbank, both at Windsor Castle.
Moreover, he served as the queen’s supporter for 65 years before retiring from public life in 2017 and largely disappearing from view since then. During his active years, he assisted in charting a new path for the throne under a young queen, championing Britain as well as environmental, scientific, and technology causes.
Because of his old age, Philip’s health has been the topic of considerable media attention in recent years. He was admitted to hospital in December 2019 as a “precautionary measure” for a “pre-existing” illness, according to Buckingham Palace.
He has also been admitted to the hospital several times for a number of causes, including a hip replacement and urinary infection therapy.
He was born on the Greek island of Corfu, on June 10, 1921. Philip was the only son of the Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark.
Regardless of being born into a royal family, the duke’s early childhood was not typically royal. His uncle, Greece’s king was compelled to abdicate and the family has to flee to Paris when Philip was still an infant.
As he turned 7, he moved to England which is now Prince William’s home, where he lived at Kensington Palace. He later attended Gordonstoun, a boarding school in Scotland. Philip also joined the Royal Navy and his military career became truly central to his character.
