The loss of the Duke of Edinburgh is painful for our country. Our monarch has lost her lifelong companion, the royal
family have lost their father, grandfather and great grandfather, and our country has lost a public servant who, through years of dedicated public service, gathered unparalleled expertise, knowledge and skills. This is a collective loss to our country. We cannot overemphasise that. Her Majesty the Queen described Prince Philip as “my strength and stay”. He never let the Queen down. Accordingly, he never let any of us down—his countrymen.
As chairman of the all-party parliamentary group for Greece, I look back on the Prince’s life as a fascinating education in the politics of the 20th century. Born in 1921 in Corfu, the son of Prince Andrew of Greece, Prince Philip was grandson of King George of Greece. As such, Prince Philip was born a Prince of Greece and of Denmark. The statement last Friday by the President of Greece, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, extending her condolences, included a touching photo of the young prince wearing the Greek Evzones uniform, but we know how the politics of the mid-20th century turned out, and it was the United Kingdom that took Prince Philip of Greece as one of its own.
However, it was not until February 1957—36 years after Prince Philip was born a Greek Prince—that he finally became a Prince of the United Kingdom. What a journey! The Prince’s coat of arms represents his lineage: a Prince of Greece and of Denmark on his paternal side; descent from the Mountbatten family on his maternal side; three lions passant in pale azure for Denmark; second azure, a cross argent for Greece; third argent, two pallets sable for Battenberg, or Mountbatten; fourth argent, upon a rock proper a castle for Edinburgh.
Considered by everyone quintessentially British to the core, Prince Philip’s coat of arms embodies a man of rather wide heritage. Only in Britain could such a man have been made a Prince of the United Kingdom and come to be regarded today, as we rightly pay our respects, as father of the British nation. What a journey indeed.
As Prince Philip takes his final journey to a much greater place, on behalf of the people of South Leicestershire, I extend my heartfelt and sincere condolences to Her Majesty the Queen and the royal family.
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