Prince Philip, husband to Queen Elizabeth II, is dead at the age of 99.
Buckingham Palace announced Philip’s death on Friday. The elderly prince has had a host of health problems and had surgery on his heart last month.
“It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen announces 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,” a message posted to the royal family’s website says. “Further announcements will be made in due course. The Royal Family join with people around the world in mourning his loss.”
Philip and Elizabeth were married for 73 years since they exchanged vows in 1947. Philip spent 65 years supporting Elizabeth as the queen’s consort before retiring from public life in 2017, making him the longest-serving consort in British history.
The queen was deeply appreciative for Philip over the years, calling him her “strength and stay” in a 1997 speech on their 50th wedding anniversary, according to NBC News.
“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,” she said.
Philip was instrumental in modernizing the royal family, according to NBC. As NBC reports:
The intensely private prince will likely be remembered for his early efforts to help modernize the royal family’s image during a time of great change for Britain and the world, especially at the outset of Elizabeth’s reign in 1952. He also developed a reputation for the occasional brusque comment and crass, if not racist jokes.
“The queen inherited from her father a model of monarchy that was very hands off, old-fashioned and slightly invisible,” said Sarah Gristwood, a historian and the author of “Elizabeth: The Queen and the Crown.”
“It wasn’t equipped to deal with a new media age, and Prince Philip played a huge role in moving it forward then.”
Philip helped bring the royals to life on television rather than through radio reports. He was the first member of the royal family to do a televised interview and he presented a show on a royal tour of the Commonwealth. He is also said to have had a hand in televising the queen’s coronation in 1953 and in organizing a groundbreaking 1969 television documentary about the family.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson praised Philip from Downing Street, saying the late prince “inspired the lives of countless young people,” according to BBC.
“He helped to steer the Royal Family and the monarchy so that it remains an institution indisputably vital to the balance and happiness of our national life,” Johnson said. “Prince Philip earned the affection of generations here in the United Kingdom, across the Commonwealth, and around the world.”
Johnson also remembered Philip’s service in World War II.
“From that conflict he took an ethic of service that he applied throughout the unprecedented changes of the post-War era,” Johnson said. “Like the expert carriage driver that he was, he helped to steer the Royal Family and the monarchy so that it remains an institution indisputably vital to the balance and happiness of our national life.”
This article has been expanded after publication to include additional information.