Prince Philip to step down from royal duties
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Prince Philip is to step down from public duties from the autumn, Buckingham Palace has announced.
The Duke of Edinburgh’s decision was taken with the support of Queen Elizabeth II, the statement said.
Prince Philip, 95, is the longest serving royal consort in Britain’s history and is the figure on whom Queen Elizabeth has most depended throughout her long reign. Yesterday, he was at Lords, the home of English cricket, wearing the distinctive “egg and bacon” striped tie of the MCC to open a new stand.
The Queen “will continue to carry out a full programme of official engagements with the support of members of the Royal Family,” the statement said.
Prince Philip was known for being a moderniser at the start of the Queen’s reign, the former naval officer inviting cameras into Buckingham Palace for a 1969 documentary. But in later years he has come to resent the media’s intrusiveness and developed a hostile relationship with the royal press corps.
He will attend previously scheduled engagements between now and August, the palace said, but will not accept new invitations for visits and engagements.
However he may still attend some public events “from time to time”, the statement said. Prince Philip is patron, president or a member of more than 780 organisations.
(Image: AFP.)
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