Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, 10 June 1921), is the husband and consort of Queen Elizabeth II. Philip was born into the Greek and Danish royal families. He was born in Greece, but his family was exiled from the country when he was an infant. After being educated in France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, he joined the British Royal Navy in 1939, aged 18. From July 1939, he began corresponding with the 13-year-old Princess Elizabeth, whom he had first met in 1934. During the Second World War
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh Balmoral Castle. Hugh Casson described Philip's own artwork as "exactly what you'd expect ... totally direct, no hanging about. Strong colours, vigorous brushstrokes." His down-to-earth manner was attested to by a White House butler who recalled that, on a visit in 1979, Philip had engaged him and a fellow butler in a conversation, and poured them drinks. As well as a reputation for bluntness and plain speaking, Philip is noted for occasionally making observations and jokes that have been construed as either funny, or as gaffes: awkward, politically incorrect or even offensive, but sometimes perceived as stereotypical of someone of