Philip Mountbatten, duc d'Édimbourg, né prince Philippe de Grèce et de Danemark le 10 juin 1921 à Mon Repos , est le cinquième enfant et seul fils du prince André de Grèce et de la princesse Alice de Battenberg. Il est le petit-fils du roi des Hellènes Georges Ier et un cousin germain des rois Georges II et Paul Ier. Il est également un petit-neveu de la dernière tsarine Alexandra Fiodorovna Romanova et de la princesse Irène de Prusse, belle-sœur de l'empereur allemand Guillaume II. Mari de la reine Élisabeth II, il est par sa longévité celui qui occupe le plus longtemps le rôle de consort du Royaume-Uni, ainsi que le conjoint étant resté le plus longtemps marié à un monarque britannique régnant.
Membre de la maison dano-allemande du Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderbourg-Glücksburg, le prince Philip naît dans la famille royale de Grèce, mais sa famille s'exile alors qu'il est enfant. Après des études en Allemagne, en Angleterre et en Écosse, il rejoint la Royal Navy à l’âge de 18 ans en 1939. En juillet 1939, il commence à correspondre avec la princesse Élisabeth, la fille aînée et héritière présomptive du roi George VI. Pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale, il sert dans les flottes de Méditerranée et du Pacifique. Après la guerre, Philip obtient la permission de George VI d’épouser Élisabeth. Avant l'annonce officielle des fiançailles, il renonce à ses titres et prédicats royaux grecs et danois, se convertit de la religion orthodoxe grecque à l'anglicanisme et devient sujet naturalisé britannique, adoptant le nom de famille Mountbatten de ses grands-parents maternels britanniques.
Après cinq mois de fiançailles, devenu le lieutenant de vaisseau Philip Mountbatten, il épouse la princesse Élisabeth le 20 novembre 1947. Le jour de son mariage, il reçoit de son beau-père le prédicat d'altesse royale et le titre de duc d'Édimbourg. Philip quitte le service actif, ayant atteint le grade de capitaine de frégate, quand Élisabeth devient reine en 1952. Sa femme le fait prince du Royaume-Uni en 1957 et Lord Grand Amiral en 2011. Philip a quatre enfants avec Élisabeth : Charles, Anne, Andrew et Edward. Depuis un décret en conseil datant de 1960, les descendants de Philip et Élisabeth ne portant pas de titres royaux peuvent utiliser le nom de famille Mountbatten-Windsor. Sportif passionné, Philip aide au développement de l'attelage équestre. Il est le président de plus de 800 organisations et le président du Duke of Edinburg’s Award pour les personnes âgées de 14 à 24 ans, bien qu'en retrait de la vie publique depuis 2017.
Wikipedia
“If you stay here much longer, you'll all be slitty-eyed.”
Said to a group of British students in China in 1986, as quoted in "Long line of princely gaffes", BBC News (1 March 2002)
1980s
“You look like you’re ready for bed!”
Said in 2003 to President of Nigeria, who was in national dress, as quoted in "Prince Philip quotes: Relive 65 classic gaffes as Duke of Edinburgh celebrates 65th wedding anniversary" http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/prince-philip-quotes-relive-65-1445185
2000s
“You are a woman, aren't you?”
After accepting a gift from a Kenyan woman, as quoted in "Long line of princely gaffes" BBC News (1 March 2002)
2000s
1986 statement as quoted in "Long line of princely gaffes", BBC News (1 March 2002)
1980s
“Well, you'll never fly in it, you're too fat to be an astronaut.”
Said at the University of Salford to a 13-year-old aspiring astronaut, who was wishing to fly the NOVA rocket, as quoted in of the gaffe: Prince Philip’s top ten embarrassing moments" in The Daily Mirror (14 December 2009) http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-10s/2009/12/14/gift-of-the-gaffe-prince-philip-s-top-ten-embarrassing-moments-115875-21896895/"Gift
2000s
“When a man opens a car door for his wife, it's either a new car or a new wife.”
On marriage, as quoted in "48 of Prince Philip's greatest gaffes and funny moments" https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/05/04/48-prince-philips-greatest-gaffes-funny-moments/, The Telegraph (2 August 2017)
Said to the Mayor of Waltham Forest who uses a mobility scooter, as quoted in "Duke of Edinburgh has fun with mobility scooter jokes on London visit" http://www.metro.co.uk/news/894691-duke-of-edinburgh-has-fun-with-mobility-scooter-jokes-on-london-visit, Metro (29 March 2012)
“Do you know they're now producing eating dogs for the anorexics?”
Said to a blind, wheelchair-bound woman who was accompanied by her guide dog, as quoted in "Philip tells blind woman: 'They've got eating dogs for anorexics'" http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1393020/Philip-tells-blind-woman-Theyve-got-eating-dogs-for-anorexics.html in The Telegraph (3 May 2002)
2000s
Said in a letter to The Oldie magazine after being voted "Consort of the Year", as quoted in "Prince Philip voted 'Consort of the Year'" http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12424132, BBC News (11 February 2011)
Said on a visit to Lockerbie in 1993 to a man who lived in a road where eleven people had been killed by wreckage from the Pan Am jumbo jet, as quoted in "Prince Philip's gaffes" http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/416992.stm, BBC News (10 August 1999)
1990s
“Everybody was saying we must have more leisure. Now they are complaining they are unemployed.”
In 1981, in reference to an economic recession, as quoted in "Long line of princely gaffes", BBC News (1 March 2002)
1980s
Statement of 1966, as quoted in "Long line of princely gaffes", BBC News (1 March 2002)
1960s
Response to Elizabeth Rendle, a 24-year-old, who, when introduced to the prince, said that she worked as a barmaid in a nightclub, as quoted in "Prince Philip in strip club gaffe" http://web.archive.org/web/20100315011557/asia.news.yahoo.com/afp/20100312/tts-britain-royals-offbeat-cac1e9b.html (12 March 2010), Yahoo! News
Said to multi-racial dance troupe Diversity at the 2009 Royal Variety Performance, as quoted in Prince Philip asks Diversity, 'Are you all one family?'" in The Mirror (20 December 2009) http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2009/12/20/are-you-all-one-family-philip-asks-diversity-115875-21910150/"
2000s
“Just take the f___ing picture.”
Said during an official photo shoot of the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/jul/10/prince-philip-tells-photographer-just-take-the-fucking-picture in 2015.
2000s
“Young people are the same as they always were. Just as ignorant.”
Source: At Duke of Edinburgh Awards scheme in 2006, https://www.womanandhome.com/life/news-entertainment/prince-philip-quotes-63435/
“Cats kill far more birds than men. Why don't you have a slogan: ‘Kill a cat and save a bird?”
Source: At a project to protect turtle doves in Anguilla in 1965. https://www.womanandhome.com/life/news-entertainment/prince-philip-quotes-63435/
“Children go to school because their parents don't want them in the house.”
Source: Prompting giggles from Malala Yousafzai, who survived an assassination attempt by the Taliban after campaigning for the right of girls to go to school without fear - October 2013.
“Just take the thing! Just take the fucking picture!”
Said during an official photo shoot of the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/jul/10/prince-philip-tells-photographer-just-take-the-fucking-picture in 2015.
2000s
