Prince Philip, the husband to Queen Elizabeth II who became the longest-serving British consort in history, has died at the age of 99.
Buckingham Palace announced on Friday that the Duke of Edinburgh died earlier that morning.
“It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen announces the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh,” the palace said in a statement obtained by Insider. “His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle.
“Further announcements will be made in due course. The Royal Family join with people around the world in mourning his loss,” the statement added.
The news comes after the duke spent four weeks in hospital as a pecautionary measure from February 16 until March 16.
A spokesperson for the duke had announced on February 23 that he was being treated for an infection, and that he was “comfortable and responding to treatment” at the time. Philip’s spokesperson also said the duke was “not expected to leave hospital for several days.”
The palace said in its initial statement that the royal was expected to “remain in hospital for a few days of observation and rest” as a precautionary measure after he was first admitted on February 16.
He was then transferred to St Bartholomew’s Hospital, a specialist cardiovascular hospital in London on March 1, after previously receiving treatment for an infection at King Edward VII hospital.
Philip then underwent a “successful procedure” for his heart condition on March 3, and the palace said in a statement sent to Insider the following day that he would “remain in hospital for treatment, rest, and recuperation for a number of days.”
Philip’s hospital admittance was not an emergency or COVID-19 related, royal correspondent Victoria Murphy reported. The duke and Queen Elizabeth received the COVID-19 vaccination in January of this year.
Philip previously spent four nights at the same hospital in December 2019 for “treatment in relation to a preexisting condition,” a palace representative said at the time. In June 2017, he was admitted there for treatment for an infection.
The royal couple had marked their 72nd wedding anniversary in November 2020.
They married shortly after World War II, in which he served as a member of the Royal Navy. In addition to a lifetime standing by the Queen’s side, he went on to serve as a figurehead for charity organizations like the World Wide Fund for Nature.
Renowned for his cheeky and sometimes offensive sense of humor, he retired from public life in May 2017 at the age of 95, and he once said he “couldn’t imagine anything worse” than reaching the age of 100.
He is survived by four children, eight grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren. (Insider)
