Many might think the 98-year-old Duke of Edinburgh has always been a British royal. But Prince Philip has only been a member of the British Royal Family since 1947, when he married Queen Elizabeth II. Some ten years later, in 1957, he was formally made a British prince.

Prior to becoming British, however, Philip was the Prince of Greek and Denmark.

The Duke is the youngest child and only son of Prince Andrew of Greece and Princess Alice of Battenberg.

His grandfather was a Prince of Denmark who became King of Greece.

But not only does Philip have connections to these European countries, he also has Russian relatives.

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The Duke is related to kings of Prussia, the historically prominent Germany state, and emperors of Russia.

In fact, the Queen’s husband was a first cousin once removed of Tsar Nicholas II, the last Emperor of Russia.

Nicholas II ruled from November 1, 1894 until his faced abdication on March 15, 1917.

His reign saw the fall of the Russian Empire from one of the foremost great powers of the world to economic and military collapse.

Nicholas was born in the Alexander Palace in Saint Petersburg and was the eldest child of Emperor Alexander III and Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia, previously know as Princess Dagmar.

Prince Philip’s father was Prince Andrew of Greece and he and Tsar Nicholas II were first cousins.

Prince Andrew’s father was King George I of Greece whose sister Princess Dagmar was Tsar Nicholas II’s mother.

Maria Feodorovna was known before her marriage as Princess Dagmar of Denmark.

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King George I of Greece and Princess Dagmar were both children of King Christian IX of Denmark by his wife Louise Hesse-Kassel.

In addition, Philip’s maternal grandmother, Victoria, was the eldest sister of both Grand Duchess Elizabeth and Empress Alexandra.

This means Philip’s mother was first cousin of the Tsar’s children.

Victoria, Elizabeth and Alexandra were thus also first cousins of George V and Wilhelm II via their descent from the children of Queen Victoria.

Most of the European royal families are connected through Queen Victoria.

The royal descendants of Queen Victoria and of King Christian IX currently occupy the thrones of Belgium, Denmark, Luxembourg, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the UK.

At the outbreak of the First World War their grandchildren occupied the thrones of Denmark, Greece, Norway, Germany, Romania, Russia, Spain and the UK.

For this, Queen Victoria was nicknamed “the grandmother of Europe” while King Christian IX was nicknamed “Father-in-law of Europe”.

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