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Prince Philip renounced his naval career when the Queen ascended the throne in 1952 but maintained a close relationship with the Royal Navy through his years of service beside Her Majesty. The Duke of Edinburgh earlier this week passed on his role as Commander-in-Chief of The Rifles to Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall and after the ceremony of passage Philip was thanked for his years of representing and supporting the regiment. Commenting on the ceremony, ITV royal edior Chris Ship noted the Duke of Edinburgh had not only given up his career in the Navy but also a likely high rank with his marriage to the Queen. 

Mr Ship said: “They thanked him for his 67-years service to them.

“And then, at the end, they wished him ‘fair winds and following seas’. It’s a naval term.

“It kinds of goes back to the days when Prince Philip was himself on board ships and sailing them around.

“Many people think he might have been the head of the Navy had he gone and not married the Queen.”

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Prince Philip joined the Royal Naval College Darthmouh in 1939 after briefly returning to Greece following his graduation from Gordonstoun School.

The Duke of Edinburgh gained his new British title once he renounced the styles granted upon him as a Prince of Denmark and Greece on the day he married the Queen in 1947.

In the early years of their marriage, Prince Philip and Princess Elizabeth lived a life of a naval couple while the Duke was stationed in Malta.

Philip had continued his rise through the Royal Navy, rising to the rank of lieutenant commander in control of the frigate HMS Magpie while he was stationed on the island.

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But when King George VI ultimately died of lung cancer in February 1952, Philip agreed to sacrifice his career to take on a supporting role by the side of Her Majesty.

Royal author Penny Junor said: “I would think the early years of Elizabeth and Philip’s marriage must have been quite difficult.

“After she became Queen, he who had had a very successful, promising naval career, had to give it up in order to walk two steps behind his wife for the rest of his life.”

According to Lady Pamela Hicks, first cousin to the Duke of Edinburgh, the news of the king’s death had left Philup hiding behind a paper.

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Lady Pamela said: “Philip just takes the newspaper and covers his face with it, hides behind it and says ‘This will be such a shock.

“As she comes into the room, I think ‘Oh, poor girl, her father died.’

“So I go over to her, give her a hug and think ‘Oh my god, it’s the Queen’ so I go into a deep curtsy and she says ‘I’m so sorry, it means we’ve all got to go back’, she was only thinking of all of us.”

Lady Pamela is among those suggesting the Duke of Edinburgh would have ultimately risen to the highest rank of the Royal Navy had he not wed the future Queen.

She added: “Philip was superb because it was much worse for him, end of his career, he would have been First Sea Lord.

“He gives up his career.”

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