The Royal Family has released a now-rare new picture of the Duke of Edinburgh on his 99th birthday, standing in the gardens of Windsor Castle with his wife Queen Elizabeth II.
The Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip — often affectionately known in the United Kingdom as the ‘Iron Duke’ for his longevity and constitution — retired from public life in 2017. Having ended his 13-year professional naval career to become a full time working Royal in 1952, the Duke had served the nation, Empire, and Commonwealth in that capacity non-stop for 65 years.
Prince Philip has only rarely been seen in public since his retirement, and especially rarely since the arrival of coronavirus when he and the Queen isolated in Windsor Castle. The Duke did release a statement in support of medical workers and others in April, when he said: “I wanted to recognise the vital and urgent work being done by so many to tackle the pandemic…
“On behalf of those of us who remain safe and at home, I also wanted to thank all key workers who ensure the infrastructure of our life continues; the staff and volunteers working on food production and distribution, those keeping postal and delivery services going, and those ensuring the rubbish continues to be collected.”
The new photograph, taken last week, shows the Duke standing straight unsupported with his hands clasped informally behind his back. Britain’s long-lived Royals have chalked up a number of records between them — the Duke of Edinburgh and the Queen have had the longest Royal marriage in British history, and the Duke is the longest-serving Royal consort ever. Queen Elizabeth II is the longest-reigning monarch in British history, and is the longest-reigning monarch in the world now alive.
She has some way to go before she becomes the longest-reigning monarch in world history though, with another four years lying between her and France’s Louis XIV the ‘Sun King’, who ruled for 72 years.
The Duke of Edinburgh has seen some of the most momentous events in world history first-hand in his 99 years. Born into one of the lesser European Royal families as a prince of Greece, Philip and his family were forced to flee the nation when his father was forced to abdicate his throne in 1922. Aged just 18 months old, the infant Philip was carried onto a Royal Navy warship for evacuation loaded in a cot made from an orange box, the official account of his life relates.
Philip later joined the Royal Navy as an officer cadet in 1939 and enjoyed a varied career during the Second World War, serving in several roles including the first lieutenant of a destroyer. He was mentioned in dispatches — a British military honour denoting service meritorious enough to warrant being named in person in a report of a battle — and witnessed the Japanese surrender in 1945.