After more than 65 years of service to the country, Prince Philip stepped down from royal duties seven years ago today.
In a stoic last act, the then 96-year-old tipped his bowler hat, waved to the crowds and walked away as For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow was played by the band of the Royal Marines.
As Captain General of the elite Navy regiment, the late Duke of Edinburgh attended a parade at Buckingham Palaceto mark the final of the 1664 Global Challenge, which raises money for charity.
Looking at the group of marines he made them laugh with the characteristically mischievous quip: ‘You all should be locked up.’
It was a fitting way to end his decades of dedicated work as both the husband of Queen Elizabeth II and as a Royal Navy sailor before that.
When he died on April 9, 2021 aged 99, the outpouring of grief reflected his beloved status both among family members and in the eyes of millions across the world.
Prince Philip pictured bowing out after his final engagement, August 2, 2017.As Captain General of the elite Navy regiment, the late Duke of Edinburgh attended a parade at Buckingham Palace to mark the final of the 1664 Global Challenge, which raises money for charity
The Duke pictured with Queen Elizabeth on his last official duty with his wife on July 12, 2017. He joined her as she welcomed the King and Queen of Spain at a ceremony on Horseguards Parade
Philip is said to have made made the decision to retire because he feared becoming increasingly frail in public.
Hislife-long friend and relative, Lady Myra Butter, who died in 2022, told the Mail: ‘He always used to say, quite openly, “I’m past my sell-by date”‘.
The end of his career was announced in a statement by Buckingham Palace in May 2017.
It read: ‘The Duke of Edinburgh has decided that he will no longer carry out public engagements from the autumn of this year.
‘In taking this decision, The Duke has the full support of The Queen.
‘The Duke of Edinburgh is Patron, President or a member of over 780 organisations, with which he will continue to be associated, although he will no longer play an active role by attending engagements’.
On the day of the announcement, Philip was attending an engagement at St James’ Palace.
When a guest told him how sorry he was to hear he was standing down, Philip joked: ‘Well I can’t stand up for much longer.’
Before the official announcement, Philip said to celebrity cook Prue Leith, ‘I’m discovering what it’s like to be on your last legs’.
During his final Trooping the Colour, on June 17, 2017, Philip was pictured smiling with Catherine, then the Duchess of Cambridge
Prince Philip outside Buckingham Palace during his final engagement, August 2, 2017
The Duke, who was the Captain General of the Royal Marines, cheekily said to a group of troops, ‘You should all be locked up’
Philip pictured talking to marines during his final engagement in 2017
By the time he stepped down, he had carried out around22,220 solo engagements, gone on 637 foreign trips and given 5,493 speeches since 1947.
Known for his no-nonsense approach, he was the longest-serving consort in British history and also the oldest serving partner of a reigning monarch.
Philip ended his active naval career in July 1951 and then started to focus on his work in supporting the Queen following her accession to the throne in 1952.
He thus became defined by his relationship with the Queen, and the devoted support he gave her throughout her reign.
The Duke was a constant companion to the Queen on engagements, state visits and in private.
His devotion never went unnoticed and in a touching but rare personal tribute during a speech to mark the couple’s 50th wedding anniversary in 1997, the Queen described Philip as her ‘strength and stay’.
Recalling the pair’s five decades serving the country together, she said: ‘I have done my best, with Prince Philip’s constant love and help.
‘He is someone who doesn’t take easily to compliments but he has, quite simply, been my strength and stay all these years, and I, and his whole family, and this and many other countries, owe him a debt greater than he would ever claim, or we shall ever know.’
Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip pictured together on their wedding day in 1947
Prince Philip and the Queen pictured together before they were married, at the wedding of Elizabeth’s lady-in-waiting in 1946
Prince Philip was associated with 992 organisations over his decades-long career andThe Duke of Edinburgh Award, which he founded in 1956, proved to be perhaps his greatest legacy.
It now operates in more than 140 countries.
After his retirement, Philip lived at Wood Farm, the cottage on the Queen’s Sandringham Estate in Norfolk.
According to the Daily Mail, Philip ‘loved’ his time there, as he spent his time reading, painting watercolours, writing letters and having friends to stay.
When the Coronavirus pandemic struck, he moved back to Windsor to be with the Queen.
But he was able to return to his beloved Wood Farm once again and even spent three weeks there with the Queen in the summer of 2020.
He died at Windsor just days after a final stay in hospital.
