Princess Anne and Prince Edward paid a heartfelt tribute to the late Father Prince Philip in interviews aired after his death on Friday, with Princess Anne declaring that “life will be completely different” without him.
“Having someone you trust and smile about things you might not be able to do publicly: being able to share this is immensely important,” Prince Edward, 57, of his father added to chats with ITV.
In the pre-recorded segments, which were to be aired on the death of the royal patriarch, Princess Anne, 70, reflected the life of her young father and his legacy.
“Without him, life will be completely different,” he said. “But from the perspective of society, he was able to keep pace with the kind of technological changes that have such a big impact … but most of all, it’s not about technology, it’s about people.”
Edward praised his father’s firm commitment to his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, 94.
“My parents have been such a fantastic support to each other over all these years and all those events and all those overseas tours and events,” he said.
Prince Philip, known as the Duke of Edinburgh, “died peacefully” on Friday morning at the age of 99, the royal family said. He had been married to the Queen for 73 years.
Princess Anne also spoke about her “nomadic” upbringing, along with the struggles she faced growing up with parents who had mental health issues.
“He was practically a refugee at this stage because he had nowhere else to go literally,” he said of his father.
He eventually attended Gordonstoun School in Moray, Scotland, which had a positive “impact” on him when he was young, the princess said.
But Prince Philip believed the most important learning came out of the classroom, he said.
“It simply came to our notice then [of school] that they were needed to help you develop as an individual, that they played at your strong point and, if that weren’t academic, there would be other things that would be your strength, ”he said.
Prince Edward also praised his father for launching The Duke of Edinburgh Award, a youth program he founded in 1956.
“My father involved Lord Hunt in helping to shape the way he would develop, and of course that was one of his geniuses, being able to find the right people to take them on and shape them.” , he said.
Prince Philip is reportedly set to be placed in Windsor Castle before his funeral in St George’s Chapel later this month.