The Greek flag covered Prince Philip‘s casket as the late husband of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, was laid to rest on Saturday.
Philip, also known as the Duke of Edinburgh, died at the age of 99 on April 9 in Windsor Castle.
He was the nation’s longest-serving consort — the name used to describe the spouse of a reigning monarch — and had been married to the Queen for 73 years.
The Greek white cross insignia can be seen on the upper right corner of the flag adorning Prince Philip’s casket, as it forms part of HRH’s royal standard.
His casket has been draped in his personal flag, which represents elements of his life, ranging from his Greek heritage to his British titles.
Those in attendance included senior members of the royal family as well as relatives and close friends of the duke, among them Bernhard, Hereditary Prince of Baden, Penny Brabourne, Countess Mountbatten of Burma, and Prince Donatus, Landgrave of Hesse.
All members of the congregation wore a face covering, as dictated by England’s current coronavirus restrictions.
Prince Philip’s life in symbols
When Prince Philip became engaged to Princess Elizabeth in 1946, he renounced his Greek title and became a British citizen, taking his uncle’s name of Mountbatten.
Starting from left to right, top to bottom, the standard of Prince Philip as Duke of Edinburgh is formed from four different coats of arms.
First is the simplified coat of arms of Denmark, as Philip was a member of the house of Glücksburg of Denmark and therefore the Danish royal family.
Next comes the coat of arms of Greece, giving a nod to his birth on the island of Corfu in 1921 and his membership in the Greek royal family.
The standard also includes a part of the coat of arms of the Mountbatten family, to which Philip belonged, as a descendant of the Battenberg family, a branch of the house of Hesse-Darmstadt, itself a cadet of the House of Hesse. This part of the flag is from the arms of Julia, Princess of Battenburg.
The fourth and last image on the flag is the coat of arms of Edinburgh. Depicting a highly stylised Edinburgh castle, this represents Philip’s title of Duke of Edinburgh.
Turbulence and excitement
Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh and consort of the Queen of England Elizabeth II, passed away early Friday morning at the age of 99 at Windsor Castle.
There was no official statement as to the cause of his death but he had been recently discharged from the hospital after having been there for several weeks.
Born on the island of Corfu into the royal family of Greece and Denmark, the Prince knew little but constant upheaval as a child, when as a result of the chaos that ensued because of the Asia Minor catastrophe, his father, Prince Andrew of Greece, was forced into exile.
Philip himself had to be spirited out of the country hidden in an orange crate for safety, leading to many years of great difficulty in his life as his mother suffered a nervous breakdown and his father spent most of the rest of his life in Southern France.
After attending a number of boarding schools, Philip entered the Royal Navy, where he served during World War II, and was even awarded the Greek War Cross for his participation in the Battle of Crete.
A few years earlier, at the age of 17, Philip had been assigned to show the royal family — including a 13-year old Princess Elizabeth — around the frigate on which he served. The two began to correspond from that time forward leading to their engagement in 1947 and wedding a year later.
Over his life, The Duke of Edinburgh was associated with 992 charities and organizations, from scientific and technological research to the welfare of young people and the encouragement of sport.
An Online Book of Condolence is available on the Royal website for those who wish to send a personal message of condolence to the family.
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