Prince Philip, the prince of the Royal Family & husband of Queen Elizabeth II died on Friday, April 9, at the age of 99 years. The news of the death of Royal Family’s patriarch was announced by the Buckingham Palace. At the time of his death, the Duke of Edinburgh was 99 years old. It should be noted that Prince Philip served alongside Queen Elizabeth II during the 69-year-rule, which is still the longest reign recorded in the British history.

The Buckingham Palace’s official Twitter handle broke the news with the statement: “It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty the Queen announces the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness the Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.”

“The Royal Family join with people around the world in mourning his loss. Further announcements will be made in due course,” said another tweet.

The late Duke of Edinburgh paid several hospital visits in the recent years for various ailments and medical issues. On February 16, the then 99-year-old royalty was admitted to Central London’s, King Edward VII’s hospital. After spending a month in the hospital and receiving treatment for a preexisting heart condition, the Duke returned to the Windsor castle.

The death of Prince Philip comes at a time when the Buckingham Palace and the Royal Family are already reeling from the public outrage it received after the Oprah Winfrey’s interview with Prince Philip’s grandson Harry and Meghan. The couple had accused the royal family of racism and discriminatory cruelty towards other members of the family.

The Prince and Queen had 4 children, 8 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren over the course of their married life. They are: Prince Charles, born in 1948, Princess Anne, born in 1950, Prince Andrew, born in 1960, and Prince Edward, born in 1964. Prince Charles is officially titled Prince of Wales, while Princess Anne was titled, Princess Royal. Meanwhile, Prince Andrew was titled Duke of York, and Prince Edward is titled Earl of Wessex.

The life and times of Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh

Prince Philip belonged to a family of royal Danish House and was bestowed Danish and Greek title. The longest-serving consort of the Royal family had to flee from Greece after an anti-monarch court banished his father for life from the country.

At the age of 17 years, Prince Philip enrolled at the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth where he serendipitously met his future wife. Elizabeth was also a distant relative of Philip as both shared the same great-great-great-grandparents, Victoria and Albert.

While on a visit to Scotland’s Balmoral Castle, the couple decided to take vows and get married. They sought the permission from King and while he agreed, he instructed them to keep their engagement a secret till Elizabeth didn’t turn 21. In November 1947, the couple got married and their wedding was attended by 200 million people, thanks to the broadcast radio.

Prince Philips’ career, which was temporarily put on hold due to the wedding, kicked off again in 1949. He was appointed the first lieutenant of Malta based destroyer ship. In 1951, he took a leave of absence as he was called to U.K., due to the fact that the king was unwell. Over the years, Prince Philip played the role of a royalty whose powers were largely ceremonial and who accompanied the Queen everywhere she went.

Over the course of years, Prince’s public statements got racially problematic and he started to be on the sidelines even more. In 2011, the Buckingham Palace announced that Duke of Edinburgh had decided to voluntarily exit as President of several organizations before he was about to turn 90.

Further, in 2017, he announced a complete retirement from indulging into any royal engagements in 2017.