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Prince Philip turns 90 infographic
Graphic shows mini profile of HRH The Duke of Edinburgh.
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UK ROYALS

Prince Philip turns 90

By Chris Dinsdale

June 10, 2011 - Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh and husband of Queen Elizabeth II, celebrates his 90th birthday. He is the longest-serving royal consort in British history.

He is the longest-serving consort of any monarch, the patron or president of some 800 organisations and, until five years ago, could still be seen carriage driving with a team of fell ponies on the Balmoral estate. Now, as he turns 90, Buckingham Palace has announced that Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, for six decades the familiar figure beside -- or one step behind -- his wife, Queen Elizabeth II, will begin to wind down his commitments in a none-too-premature concession to old age. Not that the day itself will be one for a royal lie-in, or an afternoon at the easel, indulging his enthusiasm for oil painting. The Duke has two official engagements on June 10 and, this being a working weekday, celebrations will have to wait until the weekend when a service at St George’s Chapel on the Sunday morning will be followed by a reception at Windsor Castle. 
 
Then, in the coming weeks, Prince Philip, the sole survivor of five siblings born to Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and Princess Alice of Battenberg, will vacate the chancellorships of two universities -- Edinburgh and Cambridge -- step down as patron of UK Athletics and relinquish his presidency of the Royal Agricultural Society of the Commonwealth, among others -- many of which he has held since the 1950s. Of the charities with which he will remain associated, the Duke of Edinburgh's Award continues to attract thousands of young people every year, drawn to a challenging programme of personal development with its bronze, silver and gold levels of achievement. More than six million worldwide have taken part since the Duke -- who famously thrived on a regime of outdoor activities and cold showers at his remote Scottish boarding school, Gordonstoun -- founded the scheme in 1956.
 
This has already proved a milestone year for the Duke, accompanying the Queen on an historic first visit to the Republic of Ireland in May, just days after the world had watched his grandson, Prince William, marry Catherine Middleton at Westminster Abbey. The wedding footage captured the Duke, still sprightly, stepping into and out of the royal carriage and joking with family members during the traditional balcony appearance. Known for his forthright humour, his witty asides have often been portrayed in the media as undiplomatic. Once, on a visit to the Cayman Islands, the Duke implied that most residents were descended from pirates, while closer to home, he was heard to ask a driving instructor in Glasgow how he "kept the natives off the booze long enough to pass the test?" Ahead lie preparations for next year’s Diamond Jubilee, marking 60 years since the couple learned, while in the early stages of a tour of Africa, of the death of King George VI back home at Sandringham, the Prince -- a promising young naval officer until that moment -- breaking the news himself to his new sovereign, on a riverbank in Kenya. A national four-day celebration is being planned in the UK across the first weekend of June 2012.

Sources
PUBLISHED: 07/06/2011; STORY: Susan Shepherd; PICTURES: Bob Hoare
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