Prince Philip, the late Duke of Edinburgh, had many titles throughout his 99 years. We’ve recently broken down how British titles work, so we thought we’d do a breakdown of Prince Philip’s titles as well, given he had so many.
So, let’s start off with Prince Philip’s Greece and Denmark title.
Born in 1921, Prince Philip was born as His Royal Highness Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark to Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and Princess Alice of Battenberg. Prince Philip was born as a prince, but he didn’t live like one for most of his childhood. His maternal grandfather died in London shortly after his birth, and his uncle, King Constantine I of Greece, was blamed for the defeat and had to abdicate. Despite having a Greek title, Prince Philip did NOT speak Greek. He left Greece as a baby, though he could understand fragments.
In other words, Prince Philip and his family had to live in exile for much of his young life.
Adult Years As Philip Mountbatten
In 1947, Prince Philip, no longer a prince, was Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten during his time in the Navy, though he was also a member of the Royal Army and the Royal Air Force.
On the day before his wedding to Princess Elizabeth, Prince Philip was granted the title of Lieutenant His Royal Highness Sir Philip Mountbatten by his father-in-law, King George VI. This title was unusual. It was changed on the wedding day to His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh.
It was not until 1957 that Prince Philip finally received his princely title back. He became known as until his death as His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
As the preparations for Prince Edward’s wedding to Sophie Rhys-Jones were underway, it was decided that Edward would become the next Duke of Edinburgh upon his parents’ deaths. The title was given to Charles for a time. He gave it to his youngest brother upon his 59th birthday after the death of their mother.
