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Camelot International > Royal Palace
HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburugh, KG, KT, OM, GBE
(Prince of the United Kingdom; Earl of Merioneth; Baron Greenwich; Queen's Consort)
 Prince Philip of Greece was born on September 6th, 1921, on the island of Corfu. His parents were both foreign royals, Prince Andrew of Greece and Princess Alice of Battenburg. During a military conflict between Turkey and Greece, Prince Andrew was arrested on a token charge of treason. Fearing the possibility of his execution, Princess Alice of Battenburg contacted King George V of England who arranged for Prince Andrew's release and their escape to a British Royal Navy ship waiting offshore. The infant Prince Philip - husband of the current Queen - fled Greece aboard a spartan ship in a cot made out of an orange box.
After a disjointed early life the Prince was adopted on more firm lines by the Mountbatten family. He went to school in England before transferring to a German School. When he arrived there in 1933 he found that the head of the school - a Jew called Hahn - had been arrested by Germany's new Chancellor, Adolf Hitler. Things became increasingly grim in Germany as Hitler's grip tightened and within a year Prince Philip was back in England. The Nazis eventually released Hahn and he fled to Britain and set up a school in Scotland called Gordonstoun which Philip attended, (Philip would later send all his male children there).
Prince Philip went into the Navy under the influence of his guardian, the great Lord Mountbatten. After seeing active service in the second world war he married the young British Princess Elizabeth, in 1947. Despite being husband of the Queen, Prince Philip does not have a specific role or title, such as 'king' . However, Prince Philip does carry the the title, 'The Queen's Consort'. Since taking up this role at the coronation of Elizabeth II in 1953 the Duke has been very active and is patron and president of many organisations, including Chancellor of Cambridge University.
He has always been closely involved with industry and science and is always keen for the former to progress through the latter. Because he does not occupy a constitutional role, as do the Queen and heir to the throne for example, Philip has more freedom of action and can keep in touch with society without attracting such attention as other members of the royal family. Prince Philip has had perhaps the most colourful life of the current royals. He also carries the surname 'Mountbatten', thus making the true surname of the Queen's descendants 'Mountbatten-Windsor', a dynasty name that Charles has hinted he will adopt when he becomes king.
Honours:
- KG - Order of the Garter
- KT - Order of the Thistle
- OM - Order of Merit
- GBE - Order of the British Empire (First Class)
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