Prince Philip and Faith

 

                                              Prince Philip and then Princess Elizabeth

Prince Philip, consort of Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain has died at the age of 99. Philip was a Greek prince at the time of their marriage in 1947,  a little more than 73 years ago. Elizabeth became queen of the realm at the tender age of 27, after the untimely death of her father, King George VI. Philip had already conceded aspects of his "man's man" persona, pledging fealty to his bride, as "liege man of life and limb" during their wedding ceremony. While he was always outspoken and often controversial he was required to give up his military career and spent most of his life one step behind Elizabeth.

There is evidence that Queen Elizabeth has been a quietly devout and thoughtful Christian throughout her life, but what about Prince Philip? 

I was intrigued while watching season 3 of The Crown by the episode called  Moondust. In it Philip experiences a midlife crisis which opens him to a sort of spiritual awakening, or quest. This is a fabrication. yet in the 1960's Philip did develop a friendship with the Dean of Windsor castle, Robin Woods. Woods had the unenviable responsibility of presiding at worship at St. George's Chapel. He would preach to the queen and members of the royal household, and Philip is said to have been vocal in his critiques of the dean's sermons -- so he was listening. 

Together Philip and Woods established St. George's House, a think-tank or space for discussion of religious and spiritual issues which continues to this day. "We hoped to gather leading men and women with a wide range of experience and knowledge in Government, Parliament, and in civil service; in industry, commerce, and finance; in education and in medicine, for the discussion of whatever questions they regarded as being of religious and social importance," Woods explained in his autobiography.

It's hard to imagine the life of a consort to a monarch, a marriage to an institution as well as a life partner. Even though I'm not a monarchist I do begrudgingly admire Philip's persistence through the decades, and we can all commend him to God's care.