Prince Philip's turbulent younger years were filled with exile, tragedy and uncertainty
Philip spent time in Buckingham Palace as a childPrince Philip will be remembered as the longest-serving Prince Consort in the history of the British royal family. Before he dedicated his life to be at the late Queen Elizabeth II’s side, a younger Prince Philip faced years of tragedy, uncertainty, exile and illness throughout his childhood.
The Duke of Edinburgh passed away on April 9, 2021, and his funeral took place eight days later. With the world watching, Elizabeth was forced to sit alone as she mourned her husband of 73 years. Due to Covid-19 restrictions, only 30 guests attended, but it was broadcast live so the nation could remember the royal.
We look back at his childhood, family and upbringing, before Philip met the love of his life Elizabeth all those years ago.
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Prince Philip’s younger years
Born on the Greek island Corfu in 1921 as Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, he spent most of younger years moving from place to place. He arrived in this world eight years after his grandfather, King George I of Greece was assassinated.
He was the youngest child and only son of Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and Princess Alice of Battenberg, and had four older sisters. This included his ‘favourite’ Cecilie who tragically died in a plane crash when he was 16.
At 18 months old, his father and family were banished from the country. Greece became politically unstable and in 1922, the King of Greece, Constatine I, was forced to ditch his crown. Philip’s father Andrew, was accused of treason and imprisoned after the country was defeated following a conflict with Turkey. He was later pardoned but was exiled by an army court martial.
Prince Andrew’s first cousin, Britain’s King George V, sent a navy ship to rescue the royal relatives. A young Prince Philip, who was less than two years old, slept in a converted orange crate aboard the warship.
The family managed to settle into a new life outside Paris, but in 1930, his world fell apart again.
Young Prince Philip’s mother suffered a breakdown
Philip’s mother, Princess Alice, was born inside the walls of Windsor Castle in 1885, and was the great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria. Elizabeth II was also a great-great grandchild of the former monarch, making Elizabeth and Philip third cousins.
Diagnosed as congenitally deaf as a child, Alice learned to lip-read in several languages.
The years that followed since the family’s escape were hard on Princess Alice. Her behaviour changed and one doctor diagnosed her with paranoid schizophrenia who believed she was married to Christ and was the only woman alive on Earth. Philip rarely saw his mother throughout this time.
Philip’s grandmother agreed to have her committed to a sanatorium. One day, when she took the young nine-year-old Prince Philip out for the day, Alice was sedated and taken to a clinic near Lake Constance.
Read more: Prince Philip made gut-wrenching confession before his death as Queen ‘refused to leave his side’
Psychologist Sigmund Freud looked over her case and recommended X-raying Alice’s ovaries to force her into early menopause.
Biographer Hugo Vickers said: “It was literally a car and men in white coats, coming to take her away.”
Alice was in the mental institution for two and a half years before being released.
Her niece, Countess Mountbatten, previously said of her treatment in a documentary released in 2012.: “It was rather hushed up. I think my aunt would have suffered very much.”
Philip did not see his mother much throughout his childhood. His father, Andrew, moved to the French Riviera and lived with his mistress. His parents were never together again, but did not divorce.
Tragedy
Now without a home and spending his time at boarding school, a young Prince Philip would spend the holidays with various relatives. He would divide his time between the Milford Havens and Mountbattens. His older sisters married their husbands within 18 months of the family splitting up, and a young Prince Philip was left almost alone.
His family were never the same again.
Initially, he lived at Kensington Palace with his maternal grandmother. Later, he moved in with uncle George, the Marquess of Milford Haven. Philip would become good friends with his son David, and he later would ask him to be the best man at his wedding to Elizabeth II.
He later told one biographer: “I just had to get on with it. You do. One does.”
Philip spent his time attending Cheam Preparatory School in Surrey, England. He then left to spend a year at Salem School in Germany at the age of 12.
It was here at 16 years old, when he was called into the headmaster’s office and told his older sister Cecilie had died, alongside her family, in a plane crash. She was pregnant and it’s believed she went into labour mid-air when the aircraft crash-landed after flying through chimney fog from a factory. Tragically, rescuers found an infant next to her body, believing she had given birth on board. Cecilie’s only surviving daughter died two years later to meningitis.
Despite the grave news, he did not break down into tears, with his headmaster later noting “his sorrow was that of a man”.
Six months later, tragedy struck again. His guardian Georgie Milford Haven passed away from cancer at just 45. He influenced Philip to take up a career in the Royal Navy.
A teenage Elizabeth fell in love with a young cadet
By the time 1934 comes around, a young Princess Elizabeth is eight years old and meets Prince Philip for the first time at a wedding. But it would be another five years before they meet again.
This time, Philip entertained Elizabeth and sister Margaret during a royal visit at the Royal Naval College at Dartmouth, where he was a cadet.
It’s believed this is when Elizabeth famously fell for the young prince, however, it would be several years before Philip developed feelings of his own.
Following the war, they began writing letters to each other. They sparked royal rumours when they attended the wedding of their mutual cousin Lady Patricia Mountbatten.
Read more: Why Prince Philip’s will was sealed for 90 years after his death
It’s not known when or where a younger Prince Philip got down on one knee to ask for Elizabeth’s hand in marriage, but reports say it was at Balmoral in 1946. He presented a ring that was made from a family heirloom.
Prince Philip used diamonds from his mother’s tiara for the ring. Alice received it as a gift on her wedding day from Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra of Russia. He also used leftover diamonds from the piece to craft a bracelet for his new bride as a wedding gift.
The couple went on to marry, and have four children together, the now King Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward.
He finally reclaimed the family he had lost when he was eight years old.
How much did you know about Prince Philip’s life from when he was younger? Leave us a comment on our Facebook page @RoyalInsiderOfficial.
