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The sad news has been announced of the death of HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh at the age of 99 - he was the husband (and male consort) of HM The Queen, and was married to her for over 73 years, marrying on Thursday 20th November 1947. A very strong marriage from any couple that I can think of - a marriage older than Prince Charles who was born the following year.
The Duke of Edinburgh was born in Corfu back in June 1921 and has a rich mixture of different nationalities associated with him - he was a very colourful and insightful character, even if some of his "off the cuff" remarks did raise a few eyebrows - I won't mention any of them on here as I feel that it wouldn't really be appropriate. In recent years I always thought of him as being a male version of the Queen Mother - someone who was a senior member of the British Royal Family but was also known for their longevity. No doubt, I assume that he is the British Royal Family's longest lived male family member, if not one of the longest lived?
It is cruelly ironic that the Queen sends cards to those who have reached the age of 100, and now she won't even be able to send one to her husband now - I was certain that the Duke of Edinburgh would have made it to his 100th birthday in June - I thought that he would make it. He was a fighter of life and health all the way to the end. It's also ironic that he passed away on 9th April - in recent years, 9th April has also been the anniversary of various Royal events such as the Queen Mother's funeral in 2002, and Prince Charles marrying Camilla in 2005 - (moved from 8th April due to the coincidence of Pope John II's funeral on that same day).
For some reason, I just cannot imagine HM The Queen as being a widow, not even at the age of nearly 95 - I always thought that their marriage would last longer than most of us. Life without the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh as a married couple is just like the United Kingdom flag without the Union Jack on it, (in which most of them will be flown at half-mast as a mark of respect). I did remember from the news when Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex married Sophie Rhys-Jones in June 1999 that he would become the next Duke of Edinburgh on receipt of the death of his father - whether that will actually happen now, we will just have to wait and see.
His legacy was the Duke if Edinburgh award which I shall assume will continue after him and will be a huge tribute to him after what has just happened. I have always admired him as a Royal Family member and also as a human being. Humanity will be a lot poorer due to his loss in society.
Heather, HG and the others: I make no apology for starting a thread about the Duke of Edinburgh's death on this forum, and I hope that this thread will be allowed to stay on here and not be deleted, even if it is seen as being off-topic for DYR - I am sorry, but I would rather quit this forum for good rather than see this thread deleted.
The Duke of Edinburgh was born in Corfu back in June 1921 and has a rich mixture of different nationalities associated with him - he was a very colourful and insightful character, even if some of his "off the cuff" remarks did raise a few eyebrows - I won't mention any of them on here as I feel that it wouldn't really be appropriate. In recent years I always thought of him as being a male version of the Queen Mother - someone who was a senior member of the British Royal Family but was also known for their longevity. No doubt, I assume that he is the British Royal Family's longest lived male family member, if not one of the longest lived?
It is cruelly ironic that the Queen sends cards to those who have reached the age of 100, and now she won't even be able to send one to her husband now - I was certain that the Duke of Edinburgh would have made it to his 100th birthday in June - I thought that he would make it. He was a fighter of life and health all the way to the end. It's also ironic that he passed away on 9th April - in recent years, 9th April has also been the anniversary of various Royal events such as the Queen Mother's funeral in 2002, and Prince Charles marrying Camilla in 2005 - (moved from 8th April due to the coincidence of Pope John II's funeral on that same day).
For some reason, I just cannot imagine HM The Queen as being a widow, not even at the age of nearly 95 - I always thought that their marriage would last longer than most of us. Life without the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh as a married couple is just like the United Kingdom flag without the Union Jack on it, (in which most of them will be flown at half-mast as a mark of respect). I did remember from the news when Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex married Sophie Rhys-Jones in June 1999 that he would become the next Duke of Edinburgh on receipt of the death of his father - whether that will actually happen now, we will just have to wait and see.
His legacy was the Duke if Edinburgh award which I shall assume will continue after him and will be a huge tribute to him after what has just happened. I have always admired him as a Royal Family member and also as a human being. Humanity will be a lot poorer due to his loss in society.
Heather, HG and the others: I make no apology for starting a thread about the Duke of Edinburgh's death on this forum, and I hope that this thread will be allowed to stay on here and not be deleted, even if it is seen as being off-topic for DYR - I am sorry, but I would rather quit this forum for good rather than see this thread deleted.
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