Prince Philip, Husband of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, Dies

Addis Ababa, April 09, 2021 (Walta) – Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth II’s husband and the longest-serving consort of any British monarch, has died at age 99.

 

A statement posted on the royal family’s website Friday morning said: “It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty the Queen announces the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness 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 spent 65 years supporting the queen, retiring from his public role in 2017 and staying largely out of the view since. In his active years, he helped set a new course for the monarchy under a young queen, championing Britain itself, as well as environmental causes, science, and technology.

 

Philip’s relationship with the young Princess Elizabeth began as a story of young love.

 

“We behave as though we had belonged to each other for years,” Elizabeth wrote in a letter to her parents shortly after they married.

 

Over the years, the queen acknowledged Philip’s deep influence on her, calling him her “strength and stay” in a speech on their 50th wedding anniversary in 1997.