1. Philip was born on 10 June 1921 as Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark
2. He was born on the island of Corfu, at the palatial villa of Mon Repos
3. It was the summer retreat of the Greek Royal Family
4. At the time of his birth, he was sixth in line to the Greek throne
5. His parents were Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and Princess Alice of Battenberg
6. He was the couple’s only son and fifth child, with four older sisters, Margarita, Theodora, Cecilie and Sophie
7. Despite being born in Greece, he doesn’t speak the language, but does understand some of it
8. Instead, he has said he considered himself Danish
9. He was trilingual, speaking English, French and German
10. His family were exiled from Greece when he was a child after his uncle, King Constantine, was forced to abdicate following the Greco-Turkish War. As a general in the army, his own father, Prince Andrew, was accused of treason and exile, forcing the family to flee
11. They first lived in Paris, staying at the home of his very wealthy aunt, Princess George of Greece and Denmark, who was known for her patronage of Sigmund Freud and psychoanalysis
12. Later Philip was sent to live with his relatives in Britain, while his father settled in Monaco and his mother was institutionalised in an asylum in Switzerland
13. He lived with his maternal grandmother, Victoria Mountbatten, Dowager Marchioness of Milford Haven, at Kensington Palace and with his uncle, George Mountbatten, 2nd Marquess of Milford Haven, at Lynden Manor in Bray, Berkshire
14. He was first sent to Cheam School, before being sent to a school in Germany owned by the family of his brother-in-law. Its founder, a Jewish educator named Kurt Hahn, left Germany amidst the rise in anti-semitism and Nazism, setting up Gordonstoun in Scotland, where the prince followed him

22. He met the then Princess Elizabeth in 1939, after being asked by his uncle Lord Mountbatten and the Queen Mother to escort Elizabeth and her sister Princess Maragret during a visit to the Royal Naval College at Dartmouth
23. Philip and the Queen are third cousins - both descendants of Queen Victoria
24. Elizabeth fell in love with the dashing naval officer with the two beginning to correspond when she was 13
25. He was linked to several women in his youth, before becoming official with Elizabeth
26. The most well-known of these was Olsa Benning a Canadian debutante, who worked at Bletchley Park
27. She was the goddaughter of Lord Mountbatten, Philip’s uncle, but it was his other goddaughter Sarah Baring who played matchmaker
28. Osla’s daughter said of the relationship, ‘I do know that he was her first love. She never told me about him for years. She just said: “I fell in love with a naval officer.”’
29. In 1946, when Elizabeth was 20, Philip wrote to the King to ask for her hand in marriage
30. The engagement was postponed until after her 21st birthday
31. Philip abandoned his Greek and Danish titles in favour of the more Anglicised ‘Mountbatten’
32. Before his wedding day, he became a naturalised British citizen
33. He was considered to be something of a pin-up at the time, with several of the Queen’s Coronation Maids of Honour commenting on how handsome he was in their memories of the event
34. He was married to Princess Elizabeth at Westminster Cathedral on 20 November 1947
35. Their marriage is the longest running royal marriage in history
36. The wedding was broadcast on the radio and listened to by 200 million people
37. His sisters and their husbands were not invited to the wedding due to the ill feeling towards Germans at the time
38. His mother did attend - despite now living as a nun in Greece

39. On his wedding day, he was made High Royal Highness and was given the titles the Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Merioneth, and Baron Greenwich of Greenwich in the County of London by the King
40. The married couple’s first home was at Clarence House, but they also spent a year living abroad in Malta, renting Villa Guardamangia, while Philip was serving with the navy there
41. Together, he and the Queen have four children: Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward
42. Their first two children, Prince Charles and Princess Anne, were born before Elizabeth became Queen in 1953, while Prince Andrew and Prince Edward were born a decade later during her reign
43. It was Philip who broke the news to Elizabeth that her father had died and she was now the Queen
44. The couple were on a Commonwealth Tour in Kenya at the time
45. Upon the Queen’s ascension to the throne, there were question marks over whether she would remain as the House of Windsor, or possibly change the name due to her marriage. Philip reportedly advocated for House of Edinburgh, after his ducal title, but after further conversations with the likes of Prime Minister Winston Churchill, the Queen announced that the House of Windsor would continue

58. By his 70th birthday had clocked up 5,150 flying hours
59. The Duke's final flight was on 11th August 1997 from Carlisle to Islay
60. Aside from sporting pursuits, the Duke also had an arty side and collected numerous artworks - including several contemporary cartoons - which hang at the royal residences including Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and Balmoral
61. He’s also had a go at painting himself and was said to have a bold, colourful style
62. There are several books featuring forewards written by him, mostly on the subject of the Navy and British fauna and flora
63. He had also written several books, mostly about environmental, technological, equestrian and animal subjects
64. He was also reportedly quite the foodie - and had been known to take over dinner preparations
65. Writing in Dinner at Buckingham Palace, former royal footman Charles Oliver revealed: ‘The Prince is also adept at producing quick, light supper snacks, which he and the Queen often enjoy after they have dismissed the servants for the night. Dishes include scrambled eggs and smoked haddock, mushrooms sautéed in butter with bacon, Scotch woodcock (scrambled eggs with anchovies on toast) with mushrooms, and omelette with bacon.’
66. His favourite dishes included spicy food as well as salmon coulibiac
67. In terms of a tipple of choice, he was a plain beer man - none of the fancy stuff

68. He is said to have muttered, ‘Get me a beer. I don't care what kind it is. Just get me a beer!’ when he was offered fine wine by former Italian Prime Minister Giuliano Amato while dining in Rome
69. There is a religious sect in a jungle village in the South Pacific nation of Vanuatu that worships Prince Philip as a God
70. The origins of the religion appear to be in a myth about the son of a mountain spirit with pale skin venturing across the seas to look for a powerful woman to marry - when they saw pictures of Philip with the Queen, they believed it was him
71. The islanders hold portraits of the Duke and celebrate his birthday every year with feasts
72. He was given various honours and titles throughout his life, including Admiral of the Sea Cadet Corps, Colonel-in-Chief of the British Army Cadet Force, and Air Commodore-in-Chief of the Air Training Corps, Admiral of the Fleet, Captain General Royal Marines, Field Marshal, and Marshal of the Royal Air Force, Colonel of the Grenadier Guards, Lord High Admiral and finally Knight Grand Cross (GCVO) of the Royal Victorian Order
73. This last means that he was the first British national since his uncle Earl Mountbatten of Burma to be entitled to wear the breast stars of four orders of chivalry in the United Kingdom

74. Throughout his time undertaking engagements for the Queen, he became known for his occasional gaffes, saying things that were deemed politically incorrect
75. He famously said of this tendency in 1960: ‘Dontopedalogy is the science of opening your mouth and putting your foot in it, a science which I have practised for a good many years’
76. He was the first member of the British Royal Family to be interviewed on television in May 1961
77. He was instrumental in the restoration of Windsor Castle after it suffered a fire in 1992, and served as Chairman of the Restoration Committee
78. In 1993 his DNA was used to help identify the remains of the Romanov family - Tsar Nicholas II and his wife and children - who were murdered in 1918
79. He was related to the Romanovs on both his mother and father’s side of the family. He is a direct descendant of Emperor Nicholas I of Russia via his paternal grandmother Grand Duchess Olga Constantinovna of Russia and his maternal grandmother, Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine, was a sister of Alexandra Feodorovna, wife of Emperor Nicholas II
80. It has been said that Philip was instrumental in Prince Charles proposing to Lady Diana Spencer in 1981, after asking him to make a decision on their relationship once and for all
81. After Diana’s death in 1997, it was Philip who is said to have persuaded her sons Prince William and Prince Harry to walk behind her coffin, saying, ‘If you don't walk, I think you'll regret it later. If I walk, will you walk with me?’
82. He joined Charles, William, Harry and Diana’s brother, Earl Spencer, walking in the procession behind the coffin
83. It has been rumoured that he disliked Sarah, Duchess of York, the ex-wife of his son, Prince Andrew, due to the embarrassment he thought she caused the Royal Family
84. Philip was the oldest ever male member of the British royal family, and the third longest-lived following Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother
85. He was the longest serving Consort
86. He accompanied the Queen on all 251 of her overseas tours