Philip, Duke of Edinburgh: biography, photos and personal life

The whole world is closely watching the life of Elizabeth II, the Queen of Great Britain. Causes genuine interest and her husband, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. In the United Kingdom, he is highly respected. Ashley Walton, a biographer, called Philip "the national treasure" of Britain. The fate of this interesting person will be discussed in our article.

Origin

Philip Buttenberg, the future Duke of Edinburgh, was born in 1921, on June 10th. He became the fifth child in the family of Prince Andrew and Princess Alice Battenberg. The boy was born on the island of Corfu (Greece), in the villa of Monrepos. In 1922, September 22, King Constantine the First, Philip's uncle, abdicated. As a result, Prince Andrew, along with the rest of the members of the crowned family, was arrested by the provisional government of the country. He was sentenced to exile from Greece for life. On the British ship of the Royal BMC "Calypso" the family of Prince Andrew, together with the little Philip, was taken to France. The boy slept in a crib created from a fruit basket. The exiles settled in a suburb of Paris, in the estate of Saint-Cloud.

Childhood and youth

Childhood and youth spent very violently Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. The young man was not too happy. The son of the Greek royal family was at first lonely in Britain. The marriage of his parents soon disintegrated, and the whole family was scattered over the war-divided Europe. Prince Andrew settled on the French Riviera, while Philip's mother, recovering from a severe mental illness, returned to Greece. Philip's sisters married with aristocrats from Germany, so at the beginning of the war the prince was away from all his relatives. In addition, some of the prince's family lost in adolescence. When Philip was sixteen years old, in 1937, his sister Seselia, together with her husband, two young children and her mother-in-law, got into a plane crash in Ostend. The whole family died. The young prince attended their funeral that took place in Darmstadt. A year later, his uncle and guardian, Lord Haven Milford, died of cancer.

Training

In 1928 Philip went to study in the UK. Later, he moved to Germany, where he studied in 1933 in a private school. At this time, his mother went to a psychiatric hospital with a diagnosis of "schizophrenia." Then the young man was engaged in one of the schools in Scotland. In 1939, he entered the Dartmouth Royal Naval College. Prince finished it in 1940, and he was awarded the rank of midshipman. For four months he served on the battleship "Ramillies", and later sailed on the ships "Shropshire" and "Kent".

Military service

During the Second World War, Prince Philip served in the Navy. When in 1940, in October, Italian troops invaded Greece, the young man was transferred to the battleship "Valiant", which was part of the Mediterranean fleet. The young man participated in many military operations, including in providing cover for the British-American landing, landed in Sicily in 1943. In January 1946, when the war was over, Philippe returned to the UK and began working as an instructor on the cruiser Royal Arthur, in Wiltshire.

Acquaintance with the future wife

In 1939, King George Six of England visited the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth. During this visit, Philip met his four-sister sisters. The young man immediately liked Elizabeth, the future English queen. Between it and the prince began a lively correspondence. At this time, the girl was only thirteen years old. Later, in the summer of 1946, Philip asked George of the Sixth Hand for his daughter.

Family life

Before the marriage, Philip was given the title of Duke of Edinburgh. The wedding took place in 1947, on November 20, in Westminster Abbey. The newlyweds began to live in Clarence House. Their firstborn, Charles, was born in 1948. Then, in 1950, Princess Anne was born, and later - Prince Andrew (1960) and Prince Edward (1964).

Queen's spouse

After the death of King George Six in 1952, Elizabeth II, Philip's wife, ascended to the English throne. The Duke of Edinburgh became the husband of the incumbent monarch of the country, but refused the title of Prince Consort. He strongly supported his wife in her new duties, accompanied her at various ceremonies: traveling abroad, dinner parties, at the opening of parliamentary sessions in various countries. Until recently, the prince attended about 350 various ceremonies and events a year and, only marking his 90th anniversary in 2011, said he was going to "slow down".

Political Views

In 1957, October 14, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, became a member of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada. He directly stated his own attitude towards republicanism in this country in 1969, stating that the monarchy should exist in the interests of the common people. And if this system for some reason does not suit the subjects, then they have the right to change it. True, this statement does not match the other, thrown accidentally it phrase. Visiting in 1971, Paraguay, Philippe, Duke of Edinburgh, told Alfredo Stressner, the dictator there: "It's nice to visit a country that is not governed by its people." Later, the prince reported that his words were undisguised irony. However, not everyone believed in this version.

Hobbies

Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, was a good player in polo when he was young. He also successfully engaged in sailing. In 1952, the Prince received his first lesson in aircraft management. By his seventieth birthday, he had already flown 5150 hours. The Duke was also fond of racing on horse sleds. He stopped participating in these competitions personally only at the age of eighty. In addition, Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, seriously engaged in painting: he painted oil paintings, collected works of other artists, including modern cartoonists. Hugh Casson, a British art critic, called the work of Philip "just what you expect ... with a direct message, without walking around and around." He also noted vigorous strokes and strong colors in the technique of the prince.

Social activity

Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, whose photographs are presented in this article, until recently was the patron of about eight thousand different associations. He is the chairman of the organization responsible for handing over the Special Duke of Edinburgh Award to citizens between the ages of fourteen and twenty-four. Prince for a long time was one of the leaders of the Wildlife Fund. This activity took him a long time, but Philip tries to separate himself from modern environmental activists. Being a person with conservative views, he declares that he is not going to "hug with rabbits".

Reputation

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, whose growth is 1.83 centimeters, has an unusual reputation in his country. He, undoubtedly, is respected and respected, but he is known for never getting behind a word in his pocket. And always expressed with an unconventional for a member of the crowned family straightforwardness. Philip's vague phrases are some collect. Several years ago there was even a book with the most famous statements of the prince. In many respects, the humor of the Duke of Edinburgh seems tactless because he is an old man. Sometimes he either intentionally, or habitually ignores the customs of the modern era with its tolerance for everything: racial characteristics, unusual costumes or pairs of extra pounds. Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, often finds himself in comic situations, which, however, do not harm his reputation.

On June 10, 2014, the prince turned 93 years old. For sixty-two years, Philip is worthy of playing a modest and important role of the support of his crowned wife-queen. Therefore, it is called the "national treasure" of Great Britain.