LONDON: The husband of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip – the Duke of Edinburgh, passed away on Friday aged 99, Buckingham Palace said. In a statement issued on behalf of the 94-year-old monarch, the palace said that the country’s longest-serving royal consort died peacefully at Windsor Castle on Friday morning.
“It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen has announced the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh,” the palace statement read. “His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle,” it said. The Duke, who was to mark his 100th birthday on June 10, had been discharged from hospital after a month since he had been admitted there and went on to have a successful heart procedure. The 28-night stay had been his longest spell in hospital after he was first admitted to the King Edward VII Hospital on February 16 before moving to a National Health Service (NHS) specialist St. Bartholomew”s Hospital two weeks later, where he underwent a procedure for a pre-existing heart condition. Prince Philip and the Queen had spent most of the lockdown at Windsor Castle in England with a small group of household staff, nicknamed “HMS Bubble”.
The couple, who have been married for 73 years, received their first COVID-19 jabs together in January. In 2011, Prince Philip was taken to hospital by helicopter from Sandringham after suffering chest pains as the royal family was preparing for Christmas. He was treated for a blocked coronary artery at Papworth Hospital in Cambridgeshire and had a stent fitted.
The Duke retired from official royal duties in 2017 after years of service in the armed forces and then as a consort to the monarch, with several charity endeavours.
