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Royal family remembers Prince Philip on the first anniversary of his death

The Duke of Edinburgh died on this day in 2021

Kate Ng
Saturday 09 April 2022 15:50 BST
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Royal family release elegy for Duke of Edinburgh on anniversary of death

Members of the royal family have paid tribute to the Duke of Edinburgh on the first anniversary of his death.

Prince Philip died on 9 April 2021 at the age of 99, just two months before his 100th birthday.

A memorial service in his honour was held on 29 March at Westminster Abbey and was attended by the Queen, the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, and other senior members of the family.

On Saturday morning, the royals’ official Twitter account posted an emotional tribute video featuring photographs of Philip throughout his life.

A reading of the poem “The Patriarchs – An Elegy” by Poet Laureate Simon Armitage was recorded alongside the video, which began with a series of photographs of the Queen and Philip, who were married for 73 years at the time of his death.

Part of the poem reads: “On such an occasion to presume to eulogise one man is to pipe up for a whole generation – that crew whose survival was always the stuff of minor miracles, who came ashore in orange-crate coracles, fought ingenious wars, finagled triumphs at sea with flaming decoy boats and side-stepped tornadoes.”

Prince Charles and Camilla also posted a tribute to the Duke on their joint Twitter account, including a black and white photograph of Philip pushing a young Charles and Princess Anne on a swing as the Queen looks on, smiling.

A more recent photograph shows Her Majesty and Philip sat next to Charles and Camilla during an event, with all four of them smiling at one another.

The pictures were accompanied by the caption: “Remembering the Duke of Edinburgh today, one year since his passing.”

More than 500 representatives of his patronages and charities, as well as representatives from foreign royal families, the UK government, the Armed Forces and the Devolved Administrations, and more attended the memorial Service of Thanksgiving for the Duke last month.

It was a markedly different occasion than his funeral service, which was limited to a small number of close friends and family due to coronavirus restrictions.

The Queen sat by herself during the royal ceremonial funeral, which took place on 17 April 2021, and other attendees also practices social distancing and wore face masks.

Her Majesty is expected to mark the first anniversary of Philip’s death privately at Windsor Castle.

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