It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen 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.
Further announcements will be made in due course.
The Royal Family join with people around the world in mourning his loss.
Philip was always committed to his role, and was the longest-serving consort in British history. Philip was blessed with robust health for much of his long life but was repeatedly admitted to hospital with various complaints as he advanced into his 90s, and in 2017 Buckingham palace announced he would be retiring from his public duties. Prince Philip will be remembered for his no-nonsense approach, combined with his famous and sometimes politically incorrect off-the-cuff truths, but also for his unwavering devotion to duty and to his queen.
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Outspoken and irascible, Philip lived in the shadow of the woman he married at Westminster Abbey in 1947 and always walked a step behind the queen at the thousands of ceremonial events they attended during her reign, the longest in British history.
Though he had no official role, Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, was one of the most influential figures in the royal family for more than 70 years.
Philip was also the most controversial member of the royal family until the travails of his children and their spouses became regular tabloid fodder in the 1990s.
The duke was attacked for his views on everything from nuclear power to nature conservation. Critics called him a hypocrite for heading the World Wide Fund for Nature while taking part in blood sports such as pheasant shooting.
“I think that there’s a difference between being concerned for the conservation of nature and being a bunny-hugger,” he told the BBC
