Getty Prince Philip pictured in May 2017.
Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh and husband of Queen Elizabeth II, was hospitalized on February 17, 2021, according to the BBC.
BBC reported that the prince was taken to the hospital “as a precautionary measure.”
However, on April 9, 2021, Buckingham Palace announced that Philip has died.
According to BBC, Buckingham Palace revealed that the prince was feeling unwell. Philip, 99, is at King Edward VII hospital in London. Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth II have been married since 1952.
Here’s what you need to know:
Prince Philip Retired From Royal Duties in 2017
Getty
According to the Associated Press, it’s expected that Prince Philip will stay in the hospital for a couple days for “observation and rest.”
The Prince retired from public duties in 2017. He has been living at Windsor Castle with the Queen during the COVID-19 pandemic, AP reported.
In June, the Royal Family released a new photo of Philip and the Queen to celebrate his 99th birthday. “This new photograph of The Duke of Edinburgh and The Queen was taken last week in the quadrangle at Windsor Castle to mark His Royal Highness’s 99th birthday tomorrow,” the Royal Family tweeted.
Prince Philip Is the Longest Serving British Consort to a Monarch
📸 This new photograph of The Duke of Edinburgh and The Queen was taken last week in the quadrangle at Windsor Castle to mark His Royal Highness’s 99th birthday tomorrow.
According to his Buckingham Palace biography, “following a successful naval career during which he saw active service in the Second World War, The Duke of Edinburgh began to focus on his work in support of The Queen following her Accession in 1952.”
“In 2009 he became the longest serving British consort (companion to the Sovereign), a distinction previously held by Queen Charlotte, George III’s consort. His Royal Highness also has many interests which he pursues separately to his work with Her Majesty, including conservation, engineering, and The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award which he founded in 1956.”
The bio notes: “The Duke of Edinburgh is Patron, President or a member of over 750 organisations, with which he continues to be associated, although he no longer plays an active role by attending engagements.”
Prince Philip Was Born in Greece
GettyQueen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh watch a cricket match at Highclere Castle, Highclere, Hampshire, 3rd August 1958. (Getty)
According to Biography.com, Prince Philip “was born on the island of Corfu in Greece, on June 10, 1921.”
He was born into a family of Greek and Danish royals, but they were exiled, and he ended up living in France, Germany and Britain. His uncle was King Constantine I of Greece, who was forced to abdicate his throne.
He married Queen Elizabeth in 1952, and they have four children together: Charles, Anne, Andrew, and Edward.
The prince is the grandfather of Princes William and Harry.
His mother Princess Alice was a colorful figure as fans of the Netflix show The Crown well know.
Princess Alice struggled with hearing and mental health issues and became a nun. Forced multiple times into exile, she is also a heroic figure, who is credited with saving the lives of a Jewish family during World War II.
According to Brittanica, the first Battenbergs “were a family of German counts that died out about 1314 and whose seat was the castle of Kellerburg, near Battenberg, in Hesse.”
The site reports that the title was “revived” in 1851 by Alexander, a younger son of Louis II. Within seven years, his children with the Polish countess Theresa von Hauke were called princes or princesses.
Prince Alice with two of her daughters.
In 1917, their oldest son Louis Alexander became an admiral in the British Navy and marquess of Milford Haven, and, at the request of King George V, all of the family members in England renounced their German titles and name and became Mountbattens instead, Brittanica reports. It was, after all, World War I, and Germany was now the enemy.
Milford Haven was Princess Alice’s father, and she married Prince Andrew of Greece, giving birth to a son, who became Prince Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. She was also known as Princess Andrew of Greece and Denmark.
Princess Alice and her husband were originally exiled from Greece. According to UK Metro, the Greek Royal Family was overthrown in 1917. Later, though, she and her husband returned to Greece, but they were exiled again when he was blamed for Greece’s loss in the Greco-Turkish War.
By 1935, the Greek monarchy was back on the throne, and they were allowed to return. However, five years before, Alice was “locked up in a sanatorium in Switzerland and diagnosed as schizophrenic,” reports Metro.
According to Yad Vashem, Princess Alice was born deaf and read lips by age 8, giving her a sensitivity toward “the underprivileged and outcast.” She had five children with Prince Andrew of Greece, whom she married in 1903. Outside Philip, her other children were daughters.
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