Queen says Prince Philip is her 'strength and stay' in 1997

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Prince Philip has passed away at the age of 99. Buckingham Palace issued the following statement: “It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen has announced the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle.” As royal watchers around the world join together in grief, unearthed reports reveal how much he meant to the Queen.

Her Majesty and the Duke of Edinburgh enjoyed a hugely successful 73 years of marriage, which helped epitomise the Queen’s reign.

Throughout her 68 years on the throne, Philip was by her side, acting as a rock while the Queen demonstrated her poise as monarch to help ease challenges faced during her seven decades in charge.

The pair tried to spend as much time together as possible, but in more recent times the Queen had to stay in Windsor while Philip was observed in London’s King Edward VII hospital.

In February, the Duke was taken into hospital amid concerns for his health, but royal sources suggested the doctors were continuing to “keep an eye on him” as a “precautionary measure”.

Fears for his health were ramped up after his oldest son Prince Charles visited the hospital to see his father.

But the 99-year-old’s grandson Prince William said Philip was OK, and it was hoped he would be able to celebrate yet another landmark achievement in June, when he reached his 100th birthday.

Although the Duke has previously been described as a “reluctant celebrant” by a Palace source in December, he had been the centre of attention on many other anniversaries, including his 50th wedding anniversary to the Queen.

And during a speech to mark the occasion, the Queen told London’s Banqueting House in 1997 of her “remarkable 50 years” married to Philip.

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She said: “All too often, I fear, Prince Philip has had to listen to me speaking.

“Frequently we have discussed my intended speech beforehand and, as you will imagine, his views have been expressed in a forthright manner.

“He is someone who doesn’t take easily to compliments but he has, quite simply, been my strength and stay all these years, and I, and his whole family, and this and many other countries, owe him a debt greater than he would ever claim, or we shall ever know.”

The previous day on November 19, 1997, Philip also paid tribute to his wife, describing their union as a “partnership in marriage” that had worked through the good times and bad.

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He detailed that the “main lesson that we have learnt is that tolerance is the one essential ingredient of any happy marriage”, adding: “It may not be quite so important when things are going well, but it is absolutely vital when the going gets difficult.

“You can take it from that the Queen has the quality of tolerance in abundance.”

The couple married in 1947, five years before she began her reign as Queen Elizabeth II, following the death of her father George VI.

During his speech, he also spoke of the troubles experienced in public life, but conceded that if you are born into the Royal Family you “have to learn to accept certain constraints and to accommodate to that grey area of existence between official and what is left of private life”.

As he grew older, Philip remained steadfast in his wishes to not celebrate his birthday, and highlighted this in 2000 when discussing his mother-in-law, the Queen Mother reaching 100.

According to the Telegraph, he claimed he “couldn’t imagine anything worse” than reaching the same age, adding: “Bits of me are falling off already.”

Philip retired from royal life in 2017, and spent more time away from the Queen as he relaxed into his new way of life.

A royal insider said in 2019 that the Queen felt “the Duke has earned a proper retirement”.

They added to the Daily Mail: “She knows him too well, if he was still at the centre of royal life he’d feel he had to be involved.

“Being at Wood Farm means that he’s not too far away, but far enough to be able to relax.”

Last year, the Queen and Philip marked their 73rd anniversary by releasing a special photo of themselves reading a card sent from Prince William and Kate, Duchess of Cambridge’s children.

Their relationship was the longest of British sovereign in history, and celebrating the occasion, they thanked “everyone for their kind wishes” on Twitter.

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