Prince Philip dies aged 99, Buckingham Palace confirms, as PM Johnson pays tribute to ‘extraordinary life’

Announcing his passing, BBC television played the national anthem over a picture of Philip in his prime, dressed in military dress uniform.

Philip, who was by the queen’s side for nearly eight decades, retired from public duties in 2017 at the age of 96. His death came just months before his 100th birthday in June – an event typically marked in Britain with a congratulatory message from the queen, who is now Britain’s longest-serving monarch.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson paid tribute to Philip after receiving news of his death.

“It was with great sadness that a short time ago I received word from Buckingham Palace that His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh has passed away at the age of 99,” Johnson said. “Prince Philip earned the affection of generations here in the United Kingdom, across the Commonwealth and around the world.”

He added: “So we mourn today with Her Majesty The Queen, we offer our condolences to her and to all her family and we give thanks, as a nation and a Kingdom, for the extraordinary life and work of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.”

Philip often grabbed headlines for his gaffes but was portrayed by royalists as the silent stalwart, who shelved his personal ambitions to support Queen Elizabeth over seven decades.

He visited Hong Kong three times: first on his own in 1959 during his tour of the “far East”;  second in May 1975 with Queen Elizabeth on a four-day visit, the first by a reigning British monarch; and a third time, once again with the queen, in 1986.

Born into the Greek royal family – although he preferred to be thought of as a Danish prince – the Duke of Edinburgh never wore a crown himself. Yet he was a permanent public presence at the queen’s side, who called him her “strength and stay”.

Like her, his life was ruled by duty and tradition, putting his considerable energy behind numerous charities and carrying out 22,219 solo public engagements since Elizabeth rose to the throne in 1952.

But Philip regularly got into hot water for what were politely referred to as “politically incorrect” off-the-cuff remarks – quips that from anyone else would be seen as downright racist.

“You managed not to get eaten, then?” he remarked to a British student who had trekked in Papua New Guinea in 1998.

And on a historic state visit to China in 1986, the self-described “cantankerous old sod” warned a group of British students: “If you stay here much longer, you’ll all be slitty-eyed.”

There was also his reputation as a womaniser, something that worried the royal family even before he and queen married. They reportedly found the young naval officer “rough, ill-mannered and uneducated” and worried he “would probably not be faithful”.

The man the queen’s formidable mother privately referred to as “The Hun” because of his German Battenberg blood, was quickly suspected of a string of affairs, which would later be resurrected in the hit Netflix series The Crown. But Philip laughed off talk of philandering – with Sarah, the Duchess of York’s mother often cited as one of his former lovers.

“For the last 40 years I have never moved anywhere without a policeman accompanying me,” he said. “So how the hell could I get away with anything like that?”

At home, the duke had a reputation for being cold towards his four children, Charles, Anne, Andrew and Edward. But many observers considered Philip to be the glue that held together the royal family.

And in a rarely seen softer side, it emerged the late princess Diana addressed him as “Dearest Pa” in letters in which he offered solace over her deteriorating marriage to his eldest son Charles.

Philip, the world’s longest serving consort, was blessed with robust health for much of his long life, and conducted his final official appearance in August 2017 at the age of 96. But he was admitted to hospital with various complaints as he advanced into his 90s, most recently for a heart procedure.

In January 2019, at the age of 97 and still driving, he was involved in a car accident near the royal estate of Sandringham in eastern England. His Land Rover Freelander overturned and two other motorists were injured.

Prosecutors decided not to press charges after the prince, who walked away unscathed, voluntarily surrendered his driving licence. The accident prompted him to withdraw from public life and he spent much of 2020 in isolation with the queen at their Windsor Castle home west of London, shielding from the coronavirus pandemic.

But he made several appearances, including at the wedding ceremony of his granddaughter Princess Beatrice in July, four months before celebrating his own 73rd wedding anniversary.

He also attended a military ceremony at Windsor in July when he handed over his ceremonial military role as Colonel-in-Chief of The Rifles regiment to his daughter-in-law Camilla, wife of Prince Charles.

Never one to talk about his own feelings, the prince admitted in a rare 2011 interview that he had carved out his own role in the royal family by “trial and error”.

Asked if he had been successful, he told the BBC in his typical forthright manner: “I couldn’t care less. Who cares what I think about it? I mean it’s ridiculous.”

But the queen has been more forthcoming about his worth.

“He has, quite simply, been my strength and stay all these years,” she said in a speech to mark their golden wedding anniversary in 1997.

He was a keen flyer, clocking well over 5,000 hours of pilot time, and turned his love of horses to competition, first as a polo player and later representing Britain at carriage-driving.

He also maintained an interest in science, technology and the environment and for years drove a liquid petroleum gas taxi around London.

His greatest legacy may lie in the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme, which was set up in 1956 to develop the confidence and skills of young people aged 15 to 25 in Britain and the Commonwealth.

His youngest son, Edward, said its importance was likely to be greater due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on formal education.

“I think the role of the non-formal in this present climate is going to be even more important than ever before because it’s those skills and experiences which are going to be looked for,” he told Sky News television

Philip was also patron of a number of organisations, including the World Wide Fund for Nature, and chancellor of the universities of Cambridge and Edinburgh.

Additional reporting by Reuters