The life of Prince Philip

He was a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy by 21. A husband to a queen, but never a king.  Prince Philip died at age 99. This is his story.

Transcript

00:00In every kind of human activity, there are those who lead, and there are those who follow.

00:22He helped to steer the royal family and the monarchy

00:26so that it remains an institution indisputably vital to the balance and happiness of our national life.

00:56I served in the Atlantic. I was on the other side of the North Sea. It had its moments, too.

01:26You can take it from me that the Queen has the quality of tolerance and abundance.

01:57It was, for those of you who can remember it, a fairly drab world.

02:01But everyone seemed to think that our wedding was a very happy occasion and brought a little colour back to life after the dreary war years.

02:08At any rate, we certainly thought so.

02:10Yesterday, I listened as Prince Philip spoke at the Guildhall. Today, the roles are reversed.

02:26All too often, I fear Prince Philip has had to listen to me speaking.

02:41I'm naturally somewhat biased, but I think our children have done rather well under very difficult and demanding circumstances.

02:48They're putting quite unreasonable and increasing pressure on the whole of the natural system of the globe.

03:14And, of course, the ultimate victims are going to be us.

03:33Prince Philip has also notched up a series of embarrassing gaffes.

03:37During a visit to China came the now infamous slitty-eyed comments.

03:42At a factory in Scotland, he said an old fuse box looked as though it had been put in by an Indian.

04:00Pay attention, because we're now going to see the world's most experienced plaque unveiling.