PRINCE PHILIP Biography - Royalty, Rulers & leaders

 
 

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PRINCE PHILIP

Name: Prince Philip                                                                 
Born: 10 June 1921 Villa Mon Repos, Corfu, Greece                                   
                                                                                     
The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philippos of Greece and           
Denmark, 10 June 1921) is the husband and consort of Queen Elizabeth II.             
                                                                                     
Originally a royal Prince of Greece and Denmark, Prince Philip renounced these       
titles shortly before his marriage. At the time of his engagement he was known       
as Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten. On 20 November 1947, he married Princess           
Elizabeth, the heiress presumptive to King George VI. Prince Philip is a member     
of the Danish-German House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glucksburg, which       
includes the royal houses of Denmark and Norway and the deposed royal house of       
Greece.                                                                             
                                                                                     
The day before his marriage, King George VI granted him the style of His Royal       
Highness and, on the morning of the marriage, created him Duke of Edinburgh,         
Earl of Merioneth and Baron Greenwich. In 1957, Philip was created a Prince of       
the United Kingdom by Queen Elizabeth II. When he became a British subject           
Prince Philip took the surname Mountbatten, which is an anglicised version of       
his mother's German family name, Battenberg.                                         
                                                                                     
In addition to his royal duties, the Duke of Edinburgh is also the patron of         
many organisations, including The Duke of Edinburgh's Award and the World Wide       
Fund for Nature, and he is Chancellor of both the University of Edinburgh and       
the University of Cambridge. In particular, he has devoted himself to raising       
public awareness of the relationship of humanity with the environment since         
visiting the Southern Antarctic Islands in 1956, and has published and spoken       
widely for half a century on this subject. See Wikiquote excerpts from these         
speeches.                                                                           
                                                                                     
The prince continues to fulfil his public duties as a member of the British         
Royal Family, and is an established public figure in the United Kingdom and in       
the Commonwealth Realms. He has gained a reputation for making controversial         
remarks, some of which have been interpreted as being racist, particularly           
when meeting the British public or on state visits to other countries. See           
Wikiquote excerpts also.