Prince Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth and Duke of Edinburgh, is to retire from public engagements from September, Buckingham Palace said on Thursday as it put to end frenzied speculation about a meeting of royal staff from across the U.K. that took place in the morning.
From early morning social media was abuzz with rumours about the meeting, which, though not completely out of the ordinary, was reserved for significant announcements. Buckingham Palace was forced to squash rumours that it related to the health of either the Queen or the Duke, aged 91 and 95 respectively, who will celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary later this year.
The timing of the announcement was seen as particularly surprising given that local elections were taking place across the country on Thursday, and the general election campaign for June 8 was well under way.
Prince Philip, who is the president or member of over 780 organisations, will attend previously scheduled engagements up to August but would not accept new invitations for visits and engagements, the palace said, adding that the decision taken by him was fully supported by the Queen. “He may still choose to attend certain public events from time to time.”
Cricket fan
Prince Philip, a lifelong cricket fan, was seen on Wednesday at Lord’s as a renovated stand was unveiled. Born in Corfu in 1921 as Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, he eventually moved to Britain as a schoolboy and served in the Royal Navy during the Second World War, marrying the then Princess Elizabeth in 1947 at Westminster Abbey.
While admired for some of the programmes he set up — such as the Duke of Edinburgh Award, a charity encouraging young people to volunteer and take part in physical activities, and develop life skills — he has also been a controversial figure. While his “gaffes” over the years, often during public engagements, have been amusedly dismissed by some in Britain as banter or teasing, others have found them more troubling. In 1999 he was forced to apologise after pointing to an old, messy fuse box at an Edinburgh factory and remarking that it looked like it had been “put in by an Indian.”
During a visit to China in 1986, he told British students they could become “slitty-eyed” if they stayed in the country any longer.
