On 20 November 1947, Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten married his distant cousin, the British royal heir apparent Princess Elizabeth, at Westminster Abbey. It would be hard to think of a greater contrast than her previous life and his.
Philip Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glucksberg was born on 10 June 1921 on a kitchen table in Corfu to Prince Andrew of Greece – younger brother of the Greek king Constantine, both of whom were also Danish princes – and Princess Alice of Battenberg. Philip and his parents and four sisters were exiled when he was 18 months old – he was carried to safety on a Royal Navy ship in a makeshift cot made from an orange box.
At the age of nine and already stateless, Philip became effectively homeless when his parents split up. He attended a school in Germany and Gordonstoun in Scotland (where he would eventually send his son Charles). Both were run by education pioneer Kurt Hahn, renowned for the spartan conditions in which he expected his students to thrive.
Philip lived the life of an adventurer and poor relation with only his wits, good looks and royal connections to depend on. And it was these connections that led in 1939 to his meeting Elizabeth on a royal visit to Dartmouth Naval College where he was a cadet. He was 18; she was 13. He showed off; she fell – and remained – deeply in love.
Philip went into wartime service in 1940, saw action with the Mediterranean fleet, was mentioned in despatches and, at the age of 21, became one of the youngest first lieutenants. Transferring to the Pacific, he was present in Tokyo Bay at the time of the Japanese surrender in 1945.
Meanwhile, his relationship with the princess was deepening, and in July 1947, their engagement was announced. There was opposition, especially from the stuffier courtiers, but as usual, Elizabeth got her way and they were married in November.
Although he had been born a prince of Greece and Denmark, Philip renounced those titles when he became a British citizen in 1947. At the same time, he adopted the surname 'Mountbatten', an anglicised version of 'Battenberg'. On his marriage, unlike Prince Albert, he was not given the title of 'prince consort', but was created duke of Edinburgh by his new father-in-law George VI. In 1957, he received the title 'Prince Philip'. His full title is now 'HRH Prince Philip, duke of Edinburgh, earl of Merioneth and Baron Greenwich'.
His children – Charles, Anne, Andrew and Edward – all share the surname 'Mountbatten-Windsor', given to them by Queen Elizabeth in honour of their father by an order-in-council in 1960. This was in part compensation for her having decreed – against his furious protest – that, on her accession to the throne following her father's death in 1952, the name of the royal house would remain the 'House of Windsor', as George V had decided in 1917.
To soothe Philip's feelings then, the queen had made him chairman of the coronation planning committee. He was eager for 'some features relevant to the world today', but his was a lone voice. The result was a polished replay of the historicist pageantry of earlier Windsor coronations.
He had continued in his naval career after the war, reaching the rank of lieutenant commander in 1950. However, following the coronation, he realised that his royal duties were going to make his life in the navy impossible, so he retired from active service.
Already known for his sense of humour and for speaking his mind, in later years he acquired a reputation for regularly causing offence with bigoted comments while on public visits. For example, when visiting China in 1986, he told a group of British exchange students that they had better not stay there too long or they would 'go native and come home slitty-eyed'.
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 Prince Philip, the duke of Edinburgh
www.britainexpress.com/royals/philip.htm
Long, well-written biography of the duke.
The Laird o' Thistle: Philip the Dane
www.etoile.co.uk/Columns/Ken/060618.html
An informal look at Philip's genealogy, which reveals how he is related to virtually all the royal houses of Europe.
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Queen and Consort: Elizabeth and Philip – 60 years of marriage by Lynne Bell, Arthur Bousfield and Garry Toffoli (Dundurn Group, 2007)
An easily digested study of a marriage carried out in the public eye.
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Duke of Hazard: The wit and wisdom of Prince Philip by Phil Dampier and Ashley Walton (Book Guild, 2006)
Veteran royal reporters' compilation of Philip's notorious one-liners: 'This book is great fun, but it also shows that, behind the duke's bluntness and banter, is a compassionate, deep-thinking man.'
Get this book
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