Goodbye Prince Philip - Why we care!

Tomorrow many people from around the globe will be watching the funeral from Prince Philip in Windsor. And I was asking myself and wondering why we humans care about people who we don’t know and never met at all?

Well, the answer is short and simple. Because they are part of our lives for decades. Let’s face it, as sad as it is we know much more about them and their lives than we know about our own family members, friends, and work colleagues. They share their joy, happiness, celebrations, and achievements as well as their sorrows, sadness, and tragedies with us.

Prince Philip with his 99 years of a remarkable and exceptional life is of course a well-known household name for generations everywhere around the world. The handsome and charming husband to Queen Elizabeth had a difficult childhood though and was kind of a refugee. 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 only eighteen months old. His father was Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and his mother Princess Alice of Battenberg in Germany. She was actually a great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria and was born in Windsor Castle. Isn’t this fascinating?

I recently watched a very interesting and touching documentary about Princess Alice and I have to admit I couldn’t hold back my tears. She was congenitally deaf and had an unbelievably challenging and difficult life! You find a book recommendation about her life at the end of this post!

Prince Philip experienced World world II and on top of that the Corona Pandemic last year. Which probably made him and his wife Queen Elizabeth spend more time together than they would have under normal circumstances. In retrospect, I’m sure the Queen is very grateful about the lockdown. The two love birds had the chance to spend wonderful days together and cherish each other's company without any duties and distractions.

Prince Philip is what Prince Albert (his great-great-grandfather) was to the older generation. We witnessed a man whose name will also be a well-known household name for the future generation, while our names will be long forgotten. We witnessed history with Prince Philip. May his soul RIP. He was surely one of a kind. A man, a husband, a father, a grandfather, a grand grand-father, who was able to love and support his wife and his entire family the way he did and sacrifice so much of his own freedom in a selfless 73 years marriage must have been an exceptional human being.

My first thought after reading about his passing was: “Oh good, now he is reunited with his beloved mother Alice. May God bless their souls! Goodbye Philip.”

Princess Alice & Prince Philip

Mother Alice & Son Prince Philip

This week our thoughts, deep empathy and prayers are with the Royal Family at Windsor in this difficult and heartbreaking time! As I said, we do care, because we know more about this family than anyone else. Looking at their family tree makes us realize how little we know about our own past, our own roots, and our own family tree! 

We at Windsor Castle in December 2009