Friday 9 April 2021

The “strength and stay” of Queen Elizabeth and prince consort for seventy-three years, His Royal Highness Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh (*1921) passed away, aged ninety-nine peacefully in Winsor Castle. As is traditional, official notice of his death was posted on the railing of Buckingham Palace, though promptly removed to avoid drawing a crowd. Counter to the strange, immediate praise by the Prime Minister for the Prince’s carriage driving skills, the public figure was first to deprecate himself as a “discredited Balkan royal of no particular merit or distinction” but was nonetheless a pivotal institution in civics and support roles, with the walk-on role that fell onto the shoulders of an individual whose career path seemed to be a naval one, which had he attained the rank of First Sea Lord he would have been required to walk several feet behind his wife according to the protocol of the Admiralty.  The Commonwealth mourns with the Royal Family with further announcements to be made in due course.