The Duke of Edinburgh was born in Corfu, Greece (legend has it on the kitchen table) as Philip, Prince of Greece and Denmark on June 10, 1921. He is the youngest of a tribe that also has four older sisters. He anglicized his first name (becoming Philip) at the time of his marriage.
Hidden in an orange box
A coup overthrows the king shortly after Philip’s birth, and to flee the country, the family hides the baby in a box of oranges and embarks on a British boat.
He meets the queen at 19
He meets his future wife, Princess Elizabeth, in 1939. She is 13, he is 19 and is a cadet officer of the Royal Navy. They are fourth degree cousins.
His sisters married Nazis
After renouncing the Catholic religion to embrace the Anglican church, he married the future Queen Elizabeth II on November 10, 1947 in Westminster Abbey. Her four sisters do not attend the wedding. The reason? One died a few years earlier, the others married Nazi dignitaries … Not to the taste of her in-laws.
No affinity with her sons
He prefers his daughter Princess Anne and has no affinity with his sons. Especially Prince Charles whom he always despised and raised the hard way (he even nicknamed him Dumbo because of his big ears). The two men are said to have gone to “war” after the Duke’s decision to cut down 63 oak trees in the grounds of Windsor Castle. Prince Charles is said to have accused his father of vandalism.
The king of blunders
Failing father, multiplying trips around the world with his friends, he detonates compared to the very correct political correctness observed by his wife. “If you stay too long here, your eyes will be slanted,” he said to a British student during a visit to China in 1986. “It looks like my daughter’s drawings,” he analyzes. about an exhibition of primitive Ethiopian drawings in 1965. In the years 1990-2000, he became one of the central figures of the British “Info Guignols”, who had transformed him into a bar pillar.
Dedicated to his country
Since his marriage, Philip of Edinburgh has given more than 5,000 speeches, written 13 books, assisted the Queen in her 265 official visits and made 620 solo trips. In view of his great age, he retired from public life in 2017 at the age of 96.
A war hero
The duke defended his country during the Second World War. He directed the searchlights of HMS Valiant during the battle of Matapan in 1941 against the Italian navy. He was awarded the Greek War Cross of Honor for his efforts.
Original passions
The duke is the sponsor of 800 associations including the Guinea Pig Club. He is also a recognized specialist in ornithology. He loves birds and especially watching them for hours and also likes to fly. To date, it has recorded 5,986 hours of flight time on around sixty different machines.
A living god
A small state located in the Coral Sea and a former Franco-British colony, Vanuatu worships Philip and worships him. Legend has it that he was the son of a mountain god. In 1978, informed of this devotion, he sent the Vanuatu an autographed photo and an earthen pipe, now considered icons.
Created: 10.06.2020, 10h22
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