Prince Philip Dead: He Would Have Turned 100 in June

Farewell to Prince Philip: A Life Alongside the Queen, He Would Have Turned 100 in June

Born on June 10, 1921 in Corfu, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip Mountbatten, Duke of Edinburgh, has died at the age of 99. The news comes after a recent hospitalization. He had been discharged on March 16 after an operation for pre-existing heart conditions. He would have turned 100 in a few months, in June. The grandfather of Princes Harry and William had retired from public life and official duties in 2017 and, recently, has rarely appeared in public. The last time, before being photographed leaving the hospital, was at a military ceremony in July, in Buckingham Palace.

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During the coronavirus lockdown in England, Philip lived at Windsor Castle, west of London, with the Queen and a small circle of staff and associates. For months, the monarch carried out her official duties remotely from the residence, such as meetings with dignitaries. In the meantime, the couple received the Covid-19 vaccine at the beginning of January. Philip married the then Princess Elizabeth and heir to the throne of England, who became queen on the death of her father on 20 February 1947, on 6 November 1952. He later became the longest-serving prince consort in British history. The royal couple have four children, Anne, Andrew, Charles and Edward, eight grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. A naturalized British citizen, he later acquired the titles of Royal Highness, Duke, Earl and Baron, then Prince in 1957 upon the appointment of his wife.

He travelled extensively with her in the Commonwealth, accompanying her on assignments and missions related to her role, and always supported her, putting aside his own career in the Royal Navy. Over the years, there has been much gossip about his alleged affairs, from those with Soviet dancers to others with writers and aristocrats, as well as talk about his sarcasm and his 'ability' to make inappropriate comments. Born a prince of Greece and Denmark, Philip had left the former as a child, when after the Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922) a court ordered the royal family of which he was a member to leave the country forever. After a period in France, he moved to the United Kingdom, where he lived with his grandmother Princess Victoria Alberta of Hesse and his uncle, George Mountbatten.

He attended Gordonstoun School in Scotland and then joined the Royal Navy, where he graduated as the best cadet in 1940. After numerous missions abroad, decorated for heroism in the Second World War, he was assigned to the bodyguard of Princess Elizabeth, daughter of King George V and his third cousin. An avid polo player and supporter of environmental initiatives (including as president of the WWF), Philip has always enjoyed good health, but has had to deal with various problems in recent years. In 2011, he was airlifted to hospital due to chest pains and was treated for a blocked coronary artery. In 2017, he spent two nights in King Edward VII Hospital, while the following year he was hospitalized for 10 days for an operation related to a hip replacement.

The penultimate hospitalization was in December 2019, when Philip spent four nights in the same London clinic, for what the palace said were planned treatments for a pre-existing health problem. In recent years, the prince has made headlines for continuing to drive despite his age, and in January 2019 he was involved in a car accident. He had hit another car while driving a Land Rover near the Sandringham estate, and needed help to get out of the vehicle. He escaped unharmed, but a woman in the other vehicle suffered a broken wrist. At 97, Philip was forced to stop driving. However, he continued to ride horses and drive carriages on private land from time to time.