Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, died on Friday at the age of 99 at Buckingham Palace announced.
Queen Elizabeth II’s husband “died peacefully” at Windsor Castle. The couple celebrated their 73rd wedding anniversary in November 2020.
The health of the Duke, who was born in Corfu, had been slowly deteriorating for several years and he announced that he would leave the royal engagements in 2017.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “Prince Philip has earned the affection of generations here in the UK, across the Commonwealth and around the world.”
“Like the expert carriage driver he was, he helped lead the royal family and the monarchy so that it remains an indisputably vital institution for the balance and happiness of our national life,” Johnson said in a statement. .
“He was an ecologist and an advocate of the natural world long before it became fashionable. With his Duke of Edinburgh awards program he shaped and inspired the lives of countless young people and literally in tens of thousands of events nurtured their hopes and encouraged their ambitions, ”he added.
“We remember the Duke for all of this and especially for his firm support of Her Majesty the Queen,” Johnson said. “And it is to His Majesty and his family that the thoughts of our nation must turn today. Because they have lost not only a much-loved and highly respected public figure, but a devoted husband and a father, a proud and loving grandfather and, in recent years, a great-grandfather. “
This article has been updated.