Over the years I have become sceptical about the position of the Royal Family. Save a trinket for foreign tourists to fawn over I neither considered the Royal Family to have much constitutional legitimacy or meaning.
I had avidly watched The Crown on Netflix and considered the Royals to be, overall, a dysfunctional family and counted my blessings that I had not been born into such wretched privilege.
As the news updates pinged on my phone I wasn’t unduly surprised at his demise and my first reaction was, ‘damn, so close to the century!’
In the car I listened to the news and the full Royal announcement was read out:
“It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen announces the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle.
Further announcements will be made in due course.
The Royal Family join with people around the world in mourning his loss.”
The bulletin then led into a review of his public service. The many thousands of engagements on behalf of the United Kingdom. The longest-serving consort ever (69 years 62 days to be precise).
For a precious moment I was reminded about putting the needs of others first and how rare such a commitment was. A human quality which has often been relegated in favour of ‘best value’ and ‘return on investment’.
Whatever other failures he may have had (and who doesn’t have their own list?) his passing touched me more than I thought.
HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh rest in peace … and thank you.
Title Photo by King’s Church International on Unsplash
© Ian Kirke 2021