His Royal Highness Prince Philip the Duke of Edinburgh has died

The royal family announced that Prince Philip died peacefully this morning at the age of 99. He had been at home at Windsor Castle for the last month, following a six-week stint in hospital for an infection and surgery on a pre-existing heart condition.

Born in 1921 to two royal families, he was Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark. In 1947 he married 21-year-old Princess Elizabeth, whom he first met in 1934. In 1953 she became Queen Elizabeth II and he went on to become the longest-serving royal consort during her extensive reign. The two shared four children, Charles, Anne, Andrew and Edward.

Born into the Greek and Danish royal families, he was educated in France and Germany before joining the British Royal Navy. He proposed in 1946, agreeing to drop his inherited titles and instead took up the name Mountbatten, an Anglicised version of the Battenberg name from his mother’s side. 

It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen has announced 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. pic.twitter.com/XOIDQqlFPn

— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) April 9, 2021

A keen sportsman and pilot, Prince Philip also served as chairperson of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award undertaken by schoolchildren around Britain. 

He retired from his royal duties at the age of 96 in 2017, celebrating his platinum anniversary with the Queen in the same year. In 2019 following a car accident in the Sandringham Estate, Prince Philip gave up his driver’s license.

He was known for being somewhat cankerous and politically incorrect at times, particularly in his old age. However, his marriage to the Queen, together for 73 years, remained strong throughout. Celebrating their 70th wedding anniversary in 2017, Queen Elizabeth described him as “quite simply… my strength and stay all these years.”