Buckingham Palace has shared the very sad news that the Duke of Edinburgh has died.
Published 9th Apr 2021
The Duke of Edinburgh - Prince Philip - has died, Buckingham Palace has said.
A statement from Buckingham Palace said: "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."
The devastating news comes after Prince Philip’s health had been deteriorating for some time.
The Prince announced he was stepping down from royal engagements in May 2017 and made a final official public appearance as a serving Royal later that year, during a Royal Marines parade on the forecourt of Buckingham Palace.
Prince Philip's life in pictures
Here's a young Elizabeth II and Prince Philip on their wedding day. Despite receiving over 2,500 wedding gifts from around the world, rationing required that the Princess save up her ration coupons to buy the material for her wedding dress.
Prince Philip dies aged 99
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The Duke of Edinburgh visiting SS Robin, the worlds oldest complete steamship at Victoria Docks, London.
Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth II on their engagement in 1947. This picture was taken at Buckingham Palace with Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother at centre and King George VI and Princess Margaret at right.
A picture from 1948: Princess Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth II) with newborn son Prince Charles, who was born at Buckingham Palace on November 14, 1948, and The Duke of Edinburgh.
Here's a young Elizabeth II and Prince Philip on their wedding day. Despite receiving over 2,500 wedding gifts from around the world, rationing required that the Princess save up her ration coupons to buy the material for her wedding dress.
Here's the young couple line dancing and having fun during a visit to Canada.
Queen Elizabeth II with her husband Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, pictured at a durbar at Bo, Sierra Leone in 1961.
The Queen and Prince Philip enjoying a walk in the countryside together.
The Duke of Edinburgh in 1950 arriving home from a visit abroad.
The Queen and Prince Philip pictured with President and Mrs. Jacqueline Kennedy at Buckingham Palace for a dinner held in honour of the President John F. Kennedy and his wife in 1961.
A young Royal family on holiday at Balmoral during their summer holidays in 1955
The Royal Family watching a flypast from a balcony at Buckingham Palace to mark the Queens birthday in October 1989.
Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Philip watching a presentation in 1963 having plenty of fun and laughing together.
Here's Elizabeth II and Prince Philip after Silver Throne Jubilee in 1977, waving to crowds.
The British Royal family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace for the traditional fly past, following the Trooping the Colour Ceremony in 2017.
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip arrive in a horse drawn carriage in the Royal Procession on Day One of Royal Ascot in 2017.
A rare close up of the Prince.
Queen Elizabeth, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, opens newly rebuilt Birmingham New Street station in 2015.
The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh in 2012 during the Trooping the Colour celebrations.
The Duke of Edinburgh visiting SS Robin, the worlds oldest complete steamship at Victoria Docks, London.
Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth II on their engagement in 1947. This picture was taken at Buckingham Palace with Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother at centre and King George VI and Princess Margaret at right.
A picture from 1948: Princess Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth II) with newborn son Prince Charles, who was born at Buckingham Palace on November 14, 1948, and The Duke of Edinburgh.
Here's a young Elizabeth II and Prince Philip on their wedding day. Despite receiving over 2,500 wedding gifts from around the world, rationing required that the Princess save up her ration coupons to buy the material for her wedding dress.
Here's the young couple line dancing and having fun during a visit to Canada.
Queen Elizabeth II with her husband Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, pictured at a durbar at Bo, Sierra Leone in 1961.
The Queen and Prince Philip enjoying a walk in the countryside together.
The Duke of Edinburgh in 1950 arriving home from a visit abroad.
The Queen and Prince Philip pictured with President and Mrs. Jacqueline Kennedy at Buckingham Palace for a dinner held in honour of the President John F. Kennedy and his wife in 1961.
A young Royal family on holiday at Balmoral during their summer holidays in 1955
The Royal Family watching a flypast from a balcony at Buckingham Palace to mark the Queens birthday in October 1989.
Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Philip watching a presentation in 1963 having plenty of fun and laughing together.
Here's Elizabeth II and Prince Philip after Silver Throne Jubilee in 1977, waving to crowds.
The British Royal family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace for the traditional fly past, following the Trooping the Colour Ceremony in 2017.
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip arrive in a horse drawn carriage in the Royal Procession on Day One of Royal Ascot in 2017.
A rare close up of the Prince.
Queen Elizabeth, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, opens newly rebuilt Birmingham New Street station in 2015.
The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh in 2012 during the Trooping the Colour celebrations.
The Duke of Edinburgh visiting SS Robin, the worlds oldest complete steamship at Victoria Docks, London.
Prince Philip's early years
Described by the Queen as her rock, Prince Philip was born in Corfu, Greece, June 10, 1921, with the official title Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark.
In 1922, Philip's uncle, the King of Greece, was forced to abdicate following the Greco-Turkish war. Philip's father was accused of treason and the family were exiled from Greece, reportedly smuggled out of the country in a cot made from a fruit box. They went to live in Paris for the next decade which was very tough time for them all.
This difficult period caused his mother, Princess Alice to suffer a nervous breakdown, and she was sent to a sanatorium in Switzerland as a result. With his four older sisters married off to German aristocrats and his father living in the South of France, Philip found himself alone at the age of 10. This is when the Mountbattens stepped in to care for Philip.
During his childhood years he was educated at The Elms, an American school in Paris, Cheam School in the United Kingdom, and then Schule Schloss Salem in Germany in 1933 for two terms before going to Gordonstoun in Scotland, after which he joined the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth in 1939.
It was during a royal tour of the Royal Naval College that same year in 1939 when the young dashing officer first met a young Princess Elizabeth, who was in fact his third cousin as the two share a great-great grandmother in Queen Victoria.
The then 13-year-old Elizabeth was said to be smitten with 18-year-old Philip and according to her governess, vowed to one day marry him.
Service to his country
After leaving Dartmouth, Philip went on to serve in the Second World War as a first lieutenant in the Royal Navy.
Philip loved to fly and by his 70th birthday he had accrued 5,1050 pilot hours. Here he is in 1953 leaving a Harvard Trainer plane.
In 1943 he helped save scores of lives when his ship, HMS Wallace, was under attack from a Luftwaffe bomber off the coast of Sicily.
He conjured up a plan to throw overboard a wooden raft with smoke floats that would create the illusion of debris ablaze on the water. As he hoped, the German plane was fooled into attacking the raft while the ship, HMS Wallace, sailed to safety under cover of darkness.
During the war years he kept in contact by letter with Princess Elizabeth and also visited Windsor where she was living, watching her play Aladdin in a Royal pantomime one Christmas.
In one letter, the Prince wrote to Elizabeth: “To have been spared in the war and seen victory, to have been given the chance to rest and to re-adjust myself, to have fallen in love completely and unreservedly, makes all one’s personal and even the world’s troubles seem small and petty."
His wedding was a landmark moment for the nation and a huge turning point in the life of the Duke.
When the war ended just two years later, on November 20, 1947, the two married at Westminster Abbey and on this day, Phillip became the Duke of Edinburgh.
Ever since, he was a faithful consort to the Queen, supporting her through thick and thin along with their children Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward.
He always took great pride in the achievements of his family.
However, at times his renowned bluntness and his cheeky sense of humour caused headlines such as the time he yelled "yak, yak, yak; come on get a move on,” to the Queen from the deck of Britannia in Belize in 1994 as she chatted to her hosts on the quayside.
But on a serious note, a lifetime’s service saw him support numerous charities. He also launched the Duke of Edinburgh Award in his name to celebrate young people encouraging them to focus on athletics, education, the environment and achievement.
In his later years, he had taken a well-deserved step back from Royal life.
