Royal Royals: Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh is the husband and consort of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. Philip was actually born into another royal family. Prince Philip was born on 10th June 1921 in Corfu, Greece. He was born as Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark. Philip was the fifth child and only son of Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and his wife Princess Alice of Battenberg. Philip's father was the 7th child of King Constantine I of Greece. Through his father Philip is not only related to the Greek and Danish royal families, but also to the Spanish royal family. His mother Princess Alice was a great granddaughter of Queen Victoria. Philip's paternal grandmother was herself, a granddaughter of Tsar Nicholas I of Russia. All in all Philip came from an illustrious royal background.

Philip's sisters were significantly older than him. His sisters were Princess Margarita (1905), Princess Theodora (1906), Princess Cecile (1911) and Princess Sophie (1914). Philip was also born during a turbulent time for his family, right at the end of the Greco-Turkish wars. Greece lost the war and in September 1922, when Philip was just a year old his uncle King Constantine I was forced to abdicate. Prince Andrew was arrested and later that year in December, the revolutionary court banished Prince Andrew and his family from Greece for life. The baby Philip and his family escaped to France. To this day Philip doesn't speak Greek, and as he grew up identified towards his Danish heritage.

Prince Philip began his schooling at The Elms, an American school in Paris. In 1928 at the age of seven he was sent to study in the UK and attended The Cheam School. During this period he lived at Kensington Palace with his maternal grandmother, Princess Victoria, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria via her daughter Princess Princess Alice. Whilst he was away at school his sisters all married German princes and moved to Germany. It was also during this time that his mother, Princess Alice was diagnosed with schizophrenia and had to be placed in an asylum. His father moved to Monte Carlo and Philip had little contact with his mother during his childhood.

In 1933 at the age of 12 he was sent to Schloss Salem School in Germany to be closer to his family and to save school fees as his brother-in-law's family owned the school. After just six months at Schloss Salem Philip moved to Gordonstoun school in Scotland, as the founder of the German school had to flee due to the rise of Nazism. Philip's younger years continued to contain tragedy, in 1937 at the age of 16 he lost his sister Princess Cecile, his brother-in-law and two nephews to a plane crash. A year later his guardian died of bone marrow cancer.

Prince Philip graduated from Gordonstoun in 1939 at the age of 18. He then began studying at the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth. After three months at Dartmouth he went to spend a month in Athens with his mother. However his uncle, King George II of Greece asked him to return to Britain, and he did so, resuming his studies at the naval college and graduating a year later. Prince Philip fought in WWII despite his brother-in-laws fighting for the Germans. Philip was away fighting for most of the war and returned to Britain in 1946 ranked lieutenant.

On 20th November 1947 Philip married the heiress to the British throne, Princess Elizabeth. He renounced his previous titles of Prince of Greece and Denmark and gained the title of Duke of Edinburgh. The Prince's sisters were not invited to the wedding due to their marriage to German princes, especially as some had connections to the Nazi regime. Philip's father, Prince Andrew has passed away in 1944. His mother Princess Alice was the only member of his immediate family to attend.

On February 6th 1952 whilst in Kenya Philip and Elizabeth received the news that King George VI, Elizabeth's father had passed away. Philip's wife became Queen Elizabeth II and he the Queen's consort. As consort to The Queen, Philip supported her in all her royal duties and has been a constant rock by her side. In 1953 he accompanied his wife on a six month journey visiting commonwealth nations. His biggest achievement and role perhaps is The Duke of Edinburgh award scheme which he founded in 1956. This award encouraged young people to be physically active and become involved in their communities. The scheme exists today and remains extremely popular. Philip traveled to Australia in 1956 to open the Melbourne Olympics and at the same time visited Antarctica.

Over his time as consort, Philip has become a patron of over 800 charities and organisations. His specific interests are the environment, sport, industry and education. During his career he has been president of the World Wildlife Fund in the UK, President of the International Equestrian Federation, Chancellor of the Universities of Cambridge, Edinburgh, Salford and Wales.

In recent years Philip has suffered numerous bouts of ill health such as chest infections, cardio problems and bladder infections. Due to these health issues and his advanced age Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh chose to retire from public duties on August 2nd 2017. Philip can still be seen at certain royal events, but no longer undertakes any official engagements.

Philip and Elizabeth have had many professional high lights together, but their most important role remains being parents, grandparents and great grandparents to their ever expanding brood. The Duke of Edinburgh and Queen Elizabeth II share four children together, Prince Charles of Wales (1948), Princess Anne, Princess Royal (1950), Prince Andrew, Duke of York (1960) and Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex (1964).

They also have eight grandchildren, Peter Phillips and Zara Tindall (Anne), Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex (Charles), Princess Beatrice of York and Princess Eugenie (Andrew), Lady Louise Windsor and James, Viscount Severn (Edward).

The famous royal couple have also been blessed with 10 great grandchildren. Savannah and Isla Phillips (Peter), Mia, Lena and LucasTindall (Zara), Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis (William), Archie Mountbatten-Windsor (Harry) and August Brooksbank (Eugenie).

Royal Royals

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

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