Her Majesty The Queen has announced the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
His Royal Highness, aged 99, passed away peacefully this morning, Friday April 9, at Windsor Castle.
The duke was born on June 10, 1921 on the Greek island of Corfu. He would have celebrated his 100th birthday this summer.
He was a prince of Greece and Denmark and his parents were Prince Andrew of Greece and Princess Alice of Battenberg.
But he grew up in France, Germany and Britain, meeting the Queen at some of the same events in their younger years as they were distant cousins and both great-great-grandchildren of Queen Victoria.
Their first publicised meeting in 1939 when Philip was 18 and Princess Elizabeth was 13.
The princess’s parents, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, had taken her and her sister, Princess Margaret, to visit the naval college in Dartmouth and cadet Philip was assigned to entertain the princesses.
And it was a tall, blond, athletic Philip caught the princess's eye during their Dartmouth trip where he captured her attention by jumping over tennis nets.
The pair wrote regular letters to one another and later met on numerous occasions, with Philip even spending Christmas with the royal family during the Second World War.
The duke fought for Britain in the Royal Navy and was in Tokyo Bay as the Japanese surrendered in 1945.
A couple of years later, Philip and Elizabeth's engagement was announced, in July 1947, and the grand royal wedding took place on November 20, 1947 in London’s Westminster Abbey.
At this point, Elizabeth was 21 and not yet Queen but five years later, in 1952, George VI died and Elizabeth became the monarch.
The Queen and Philip had four children: Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward.
The couple, who were together for more than 70 years, have several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
A further announcement on Prince Philip's death will made in due course.
