Prince Philip is not an active member of the Royal Family anymore as he retired from his royal duties in 2017 at the age of 96. However, the Duke of Edinburgh’s retirement didn’t mean that his duty to help Queen Elizabeth about royal matters has stopped as well.
In fact, Prince Philip has been Queen Elizabeth’s source of strength during a turbulent time for the Royal Family before and after his retirement. According to a new report, the Duke of Edinburgh played an important role to help Her Majesty overcome the Royal Family crisis.
Speaking on the Channel 5 documentary, The Queen: In Her Own Words, royal expert Roya Nikkah shared that Queen Elizabeth relied on her husband more than ever during the tragic death of Princess Diana.
"That fateful event of August 1997 created a wave of grief across Britain and the globe and the people wanted their Queen… The Queen's instinct was to be grandmother first before monarch just for a few days,” she said.
The untimely passing of Princess Diana had affected a lot of people. The Princess of Wales was one of the most well-loved members of the Royal Family.
Even though Queen Elizabeth knew that the public needed her after Princess Diana’s tragic death, she put family before the monarchy for a few days. Prince Philip supported Her Majesty’s decision and helped her get through that tough time.
Meanwhile, even though Prince Philip lives away from the royal world, he was surely aware of the drama surrounding Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s withdrawal. A previous report claimed that, although the Duke of Edinburgh is already retired, he maintains a strong sense of royal duty, which he probably didn’t see in the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
Richard Fitzwilliams noted that Prince Philip also had to give up his career to support Queen Elizabeth, just like Meghan Markle. But, instead of living his life complaining about being a part of the royal family, the Duke of Edinburgh decided to make the most out of it.
While Prince Philip remained silent regarding Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's royal exit, Richard Fitzwilliams shared in an earlier report that he was not too pleased with how the couple did their announcement. The royal expert said that the Duke of Edinburgh may have taken the whole thing with "a dim view.”
Although Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been talking with senior royals about their intention to step back since the summer, their announcement blindsided Queen Elizabeth, and Prince Philip may have not appreciated that.
