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It’s been three years since he passed away, at age 99 – the longest-serving royal consort in British history.
On 9 April 2021 Prince Philip drew his last breath at Windsor Castle.
Husband to the late Queen Elizabeth for 73 years, the former navy man preferred a background role, but he was always his wife’s anchor – or “strength and stay” – as she once described him.
At his funeral on 15 April at Windsor Castle, Her Majesty was famously pictured sitting alone in the pews as she mourned her husband, who she fell in love with at the tender age of 13 and married at 21.
Since then there have been huge changes in the House of Windsor and one can only wonder what Philip – known for his gruff manner, acerbic wit and often outspoken views – would have made of all of it.
Death of the queen
Almost 18 months after his passing, the queen died peacefully at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, on 8 September 2022, aged 96.
Her state funeral was held at Westminster Abbey in London on 19 September and was watched by more than four billion people worldwide. She was laid to rest alongside Philip at the Royal Vault at Windsor Castle where a frail Duke of Edinburgh spent his final year with his wife.
With her death came the end of an era. The United Kingdom ushered in their new sovereign, King Charles, and so unfolded a new chapter in the royal history books.
New king – and sweeping changes
At 73, Charles became the oldest person to accede to the British throne after having been the longest-serving heir apparent in British history.
Since his accession he has made some sweeping changes to the monarchy in an attempt to make it more modern and transparent.
READ MORE | The birth of a new monarch: King Charles III
This has included reducing the number of working royals in a cost-cutting move and bestowing new titles to various senior royals, including the title of Duke of Edinburgh, formerly held by his father, to his youngest brother, Prince Edward.
Charles has also taken a far firmer stance on humanitarian issues such as the Ukraine war.
He directly condemned Russian's “unprovoked full-scale attack” on Ukraine in a press statement. The queen avoided speaking publicly about the war in Ukraine.
Harry & Meghan's public attacks
No doubt Philip would have been greatly upset by the Sussexes' controversial Netflix doccie, Harry & Meghan, which came out in December 2022, followed by Harry's bombshell memoir, Spare, published a month later.
In both he painted the royal family in a decidedly unfavourable light.
READ MORE | Harry and Meghan keep calm and carry on as Palace removes his title on royal website
His boast in Spare that he killed 25 people while serving with the British army in Afghanistan would also not have gone down well with Philip – a former navy man who served in World War 2.
While Harry and his grandfather were once close, after he married Meghan Markle in 2018 things fell apart.
In Prince Philip Revealed, Ingrid Seward writes that the duke compared the former Suits actress to Wallis Simpson - the American divorcée who triggered the abdication crisis when she married the then-king, Edward VIII in 1937.
Charles & Kate's cancer
Yet nothing has shocked as much as the dual cancer diagnoses this year of Charles and his daughter-in-law, Kate, Princess of Wales.
READ MORE | A king in crisis: How Charles’ reign will be affected by his cancer diagnosis
Charles' cancer, the nature of which has not been publicly disclosed, came shortly after he underwent a procedure in hospital to treat an enlarged prostate in January.
In 2008, London's Evening Standard reported that the then-87-year-old Prince Philip had been diagnosed with prostate cancer after being treated in hospital for a chest infection. Buckingham Palace denied the story and forced the newspaper to retract it.
The newspaper issued a public apology to the duke.
Sources: businessinsider.com, vanitiyfair.com, thenews.com.pk, edition.cnn, theguardian.com
