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EXHIBITION

Prince Philip: Celebrating Ninety Years

Oil painting of HRH The Duke of Edinburgh by David Poole, 1986
David Poole, HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, 1986 ©
This exhibition is in the past. View our current exhibitions.
  • This event is in the past
    Daily (Saturday, 12 Feb 2011 - Sunday, 22 Jan 2012)

Prince Philip was born on 10 June 1921 on the Mediterranean island of Corfu. The great-great-grandson of Queen Victoria, and a Prince of Greece and Denmark, he was the youngest of five children and the only son of Prince and Princess Andrew of Greece. After attending schools in France, Germany and Britain, he joined the British Royal Navy, where he served with distinction during the Second World War. On returning from his duties with the British Pacific Fleet in 1946, his naval career continued, and his relationship with his third cousin, Princess Elizabeth, elder daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, grew.

In February 1947, Prince Philip became a naturalised British subject, renouncing his royal title and taking the name Philip Mountbatten. Five months later, on 10 July 1947, the engagement of Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten and the 21-year-old Princess Elizabeth was announced. Shortly before their marriage on 20 November 1947, King George VI named his future son-in-law Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Merioneth and Baron Greenwich with the style of His Royal Highness, and he was appointed to the Order of the Garter. On the King’s death in 1952, Princess Elizabeth acceded to the throne as Queen Elizabeth II. Since then, the Duke has undertaken countless public duties, accompanying The Queen on all her Commonwealth Tours and State Visits overseas, and acting as Patron or President of some 800 organisations.

To mark the ninetieth birthday of His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh on 10 June 2011, this exhibition illustrates his early life and naval career, his marriage to Princess Elizabeth and family life, his work in support of The Queen, including the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme, together with his wide-ranging interests and achievements, from carriage driving to oil painting.


The income from your ticket contributes directly to The Royal Collection Trust, a registered charity. The aims of The Royal Collection Trust are the care and conservation of the Royal Collection, and the promotion of access and enjoyment through exhibitions, publications, loans and educational activities.