The Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip has died aged 99.
Prince Philip was the longest-serving royal consort in British history and the oldest serving partner of a reigning monarch.
The Duke had been rarely seen in public life following his retirement from royal duties in 2017.
From there he remained at Wood Farm, part of the royal family’s Sandringham estate in Norfolk, with the Queen spending most of her time in London and Windsor to attend to her royal duties.
In April 2020, he issued a rare public statement recognising the “vital and urgent work” of medical and scientific professionals “tackling” COVID-19, as well as essential workers like rubbish collectors and food distribution staff.
In that time, he had a heart procedure at St Bartholomew’s Hospital.
It followed a previous admission in December 2019, the Duke was admitted to a London hospital for treatment relating to a pre-existing condition.
Over the past four years, he had been hospitalised for a number of ongoing health issues, including surgery for an ongoing hip problem, which forced him to miss Easter celebrations with other members of the royal family last year.
The 99-year-old suffered a bout of illness in 2012, forcing him to miss some of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations. The previous year, he was hospitalised for a blocked coronary artery.
Prince Philip was at the forefront of the royal family as the Queen’s consort for more than six decades.
One of his biggest roles was the establishment of the Duke of Edinburgh award, which he launched in 1956.
The program now involves schools in more than 60 countries, including Australia.
Throughout his life, he took a strong interest in encouraging British industry and science and was patron or president of some 800 organisations.
He was also made a chancellor of number of universities including Edinburgh and Cambridge.
Prince Philip will long be remembered for his outspoken nature, smile and embarrassing errors, which often shocked or amused the public.
He has never been afraid to speak his mind, but made headlines over the years with a series of one-liners, insults and comments that caused offence to many.
In 2002, he asked “aren’t we going to need ear plugs?” after being told Madonna was singing the Die Another Day theme.
On a visit to Australia the same year, he asked Aboriginal leader William Brin “do you still throw spears at each other?” at the Aboriginal Cultural Park in Queensland.
Decades earlier, he told the Scottish Women’s Institute in 1961 that “British women can’t cook”.
Aside from his contribution to Australia, with the Duke of Edinburgh award, Prince Philip was controversially made a knight affiliated with the Order of Australia in 2015 for his decades of royal service, with the award granted by then-prime minister Tony Abbott.
Prince Philip was born on the Greek island of Corfu in 1921, the only son of Prince Andrew of Greece and Princess Alice of Battenberg, as a Prince of Greece and Denmark.
He had four elder sisters – Cecilie, Sophie, Margarita and Theodora.
The prince’s childhood was troubled, with his mother eventually committed to a psychiatric clinic, and his exiled father was mostly absent throughout his upbringing.
When the Greek royal family was ousted in the early 1920s, the Duke was carried to safety in a fruit box, with the family eventually resettling in Saint-Cloud in Paris.
He was educated in France, Germany and the United Kingdom and joined the Royal Navy at aged 18 in 1939 where he took part in the battle of Crete and the Allied invasion of Sicily. The Duke was on-board the HMS Whelp in Tokyo Bay when the Japanese surrendered on 2 September 1945.
He met Queen Elizabeth II at the wedding of his cousin, Princess Marina of Greece to The Duke of Kent.
He was 18 and she was 13.
The pair exchanged letters throughout World War II where he was serving as first lieutenant of HMS Wallace.
The Queen’s parents did not approve of Philip at first as he was a “prince without a kingdom”.
He proposed in secret in 1946 and she accepted without consulting her parents.
They eventually announced the engagement in 1947 and the pair was married at Westminster Abbey in 1947 on live radio broadcast around the world.
They went on to have four children: Charles, Anne, Andrew and Edward. His life was dedicated to royal service.
Since his retirement, Philip has been based at the family’s estate in Sandringham, Norfolk.
In February, Prince Philip was involved in a road accident near the home. He was driving a Land Rover and collided with another car.
He was uninjured, but the woman hurt her wrist and the Duke then surrendered his licence.
The prince kept a low profile in recent years. He was seen sometimes at church with the Queen, or at the Royal Windsor Horse Show.
He handed his patronages over to other members of the family, although he kept his military honours.
A stalwart royal, and forever by his Queen’s side, Prince Philip will be eternally remembered by those whom he served.
This content first appear on 9news