Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Ten key dates in the life of Prince Philip

Ten key dates in the life of Prince Philip

HERE are 10 key dates in the life of Britain's Prince Philip, who died Friday (9) at age 99:

Birth


June 10, 1921: Prince Philippos of Greece and Denmark is born on a kitchen table in Corfu. Aged 18 months, he was spirited out of Greece in an orange box when his uncle king Constantine I was forced to abdicate.

School

May 1939: In the run-up to World War II, Philip finishes his schooling at Gordonstoun in Scotland and joins the British navy.

War

September 2, 1945: Philip is present in Tokyo Bay when the Japanese surrender. He was mentioned in dispatches for his service during the war and took part in the battles of Crete and Cape Matapan and the allied invasion of Sicily.

Marriage

November 20, 1947: Philip marries princess Elizabeth, lifting some of the post-war gloom. Distant cousins, they met in 1939 and stayed in touch during the war. Having renounced his Greek and Danish titles, he is created the Duke of Edinburgh shortly before his wedding.

Accession

February 6, 1952: King George VI dies and Princess Elizabeth becomes Queen Elizabeth II while in Kenya on a Commonwealth tour. Philip is forced to abandon his naval career.

Charity

1956: He launches the Duke of Edinburgh's Award scheme, designed to teach youngsters self-reliance and public service. Millions of young people have since taken part.

Anniversary

November 20, 1997: Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth celebrate their golden wedding anniversary. In a rare public tribute, she said: "He is someone who doesn't take easily to compliments. But he has, quite simply, been my strength and stay all these years."

Consort

April 18, 2009: He becomes the longest serving royal consort in British history, overtaking queen Charlotte, the wife of king George III.

Honour

June 10, 2011: The queen makes her husband the Lord High Admiral, the titular head of the British navy, to celebrate his 90th birthday.

Retirement

May 4, 2017: Buckingham Palace announces that Prince Philip will step down from public duties later in the year.

More For You

King Charles

King Charles, wearing a black armband to pay respects to the victims of Air India plane crash, attends the Trooping the Colour parade on his official birthday in London. (Photo: Reuters)

Air India crash: Victims remembered during King Charles's birthday parade

A MINUTE's silence for the victims of the Air India plane crash was observed on Saturday during the Trooping the Colour parade in London marking King Charles's official birthday. Some members of the royal family wore black armbands during the ceremony.

A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said King Charles, 76, had requested changes to the parade “as a mark of respect for the lives lost, the families in mourning and all the communities affected by this awful tragedy”.

Keep ReadingShow less
Rochdale grooming case

They were all remanded in custody, except Bashir, who absconded before the trial began. (Photo: Greater Manchester Police)

Seven men convicted of raping 13-year-old girls in Rochdale grooming case

SEVEN men were convicted on Friday in the UK’s latest grooming trial, after a jury heard that two girl victims were forced to have sex “with multiple men on the same day, in filthy flats and on rancid mattresses”.

Jurors at the court in Manchester, northwest England, deliberated for three weeks before finding the seven men, all of whom are of South Asian descent, guilty of rape.

Keep ReadingShow less
karan-thakar

Karun Thakar is a leading textile collector with a lifelong focus on Asian and African textiles

Karun Collection

Karun Thakar Fund to support textile research with scholarships and grants

THE KARUN THAKAR FUND, established by textile collector Karun Thakar in collaboration with the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), supports the study of Asian and African textiles and dress through scholarships and project grants.

The fund offers one-time Scholarship Awards of up to £10,000 for university students worldwide focusing on any aspect of Asian or African textiles and dress. Undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate students from any accredited university are eligible, provided their research or practice is clearly linked to these areas. The next round of Scholarship Award applications opens on 1 May 2025 and closes at 23:59 on July 15, 2025.

Keep ReadingShow less
Air India

A view shows the wreckage of the tail section of an Air India aircraft, bound for London's Gatwick Airport, which crashed during take-off from airport in Ahmedabad. (Photo: Reuters)

Air India crash: Probe focuses on engine and flaps; safety checks ordered for 787 fleet

THE INVESTIGATION into the Air India crash that killed more than 240 people is focusing on the aircraft's engine, flaps, and landing gear.

The Indian aviation regulator has ordered safety checks on the airline’s entire Boeing 787 fleet, reported Reuters.

Keep ReadingShow less