Even if you’re not a ‘Royal Watcher’, you probably are familiar with the goings-on of Queen Elizabeth and her family. From Meghan Markle pregnancy rumours to shocking revelations that Prince William once told the Queen that he didn’t “love Kate enough to marry her”, there’s no shortage of daily news about everyone’s favourite royal family.
But most people don’t know much about Prince Philip, the Queen’s husband, despite the fact that he comes from a similar noble background. Here, we take a look at the prince consort’s family and his siblings.
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Who Is Prince Philip?
Prince Philip is married to Queen Elizabeth II, which makes him the prince consort of the United Kingdom and its other territories. He also goes by other titles such as Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Merioneth, and Baron Greenwich. He retired from royal duty two years ago at the age of 96. Prince Philip completed over 22,200 official engagements since he joined the British royal family in 1947.
Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip have four children together, including heir to the throne Prince Charles of Wales and Anne, Princess Royal. Although the reigning royal house remains as the House of Windsor, after Queen Elizabeth’s family, Prince Philip’s children (and other male-line descendants) were born with the surname Mountbatten-Windsor.
Did Prince Philip Come From A Royal Family?
Prince Philip received his current title because of his marriage to the Queen, but he was already a prince by birth. With ancestors in both the Greek royal family and Denmark royal family, he was born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark.
Before marrying then-Princess Elizabeth, he relinquished his royal titles, adopted his maternal grandparents’ last name Mountbatten (which his family now uses), and became a naturalised British citizen. He was offered his ducal title right before his wedding and became a British prince officially in 1957.
A Brief Family Tree Of Prince Philip
Grandparents
- King George I of Greece (father’s side)
- Olga Constantinovna of Russia (father’s side)
- Prince Louis of Battenberg (mother’s side)
- Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine (mother’s side)
Parents
- Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark
- Princess Alice of Battenberg
Children
- Charles, Prince of Wales
- Anne, Princess Royal
- Prince Andrew, Duke of York
- Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex
Grandchildren
- Prince William, Duke of Cambridge (from Prince Charles)
- Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex (from Prince Charles)
- Peter Phillips (from Princess Anne)
- Zara Phillips (from Princess Anne)
- Princess Beatrice of York (from Prince Andrew)
- Princess Eugenie of York (from Prince Andrew)
- Lady Louise Windsor (from Prince Edward)
- James, Viscount Severn (from Prince Edward)
Prince Philip’s Siblings
Prince Philip was the youngest child and only son of Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and Princess Alice of Battenberg. He had four older sisters: Princess Margarita, Princess Theodora, Princess Cecilie, and Princess Sophie. Since Princess Sophie died in 2001, Prince Philip became the last living member of his family.
Princess Margarita Of Greece And Denmark
Birthday: April 18, 1905
Died: April 24, 1981 (76 years old)
Married: Gottfried, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (m. 1931)
Margarita was the eldest of Prince Andrew and Princess Alice’s five children. She married a German prince just a couple of months within a few months of two of her younger sisters’ weddings.
Princess Theodora Of Greece And Denmark
Birthday: May 30, 1906
Died: October 16, 1969 (63 years old)
Married: Berthold, Margrave of Baden (m. 1931)
Theodora was the second oldest sister of Prince Philip. She died just five weeks before her mother.
Princess Cecilie Of Greece And Denmark
Birthday: June 22, 1911
Died: November 16, 1937 (26 years old)
Married: Georg Donatus, Hereditary Grand Duke of Hesse (m. 1931)
Cecilie was the first of Prince Andrew and Princess Alice’s children to die. She was on board a plane from Darmstadt to London, and the aircraft crashed. It was later revealed that a pregnant Princess Cecilie gave birth while on the plane, and the crash was a result of an emergency landing. Her husband and two of her other children were also on the aircraft; her other daughter Joanna was adopted by another royal family.
Princess Sophie Of Greece And Denmark
Birthday: June 26, 1914
Died: November 24, 2001 (87 years old)
Married: Prince Christoph of Hesse (m. 1930), Prince George William of Hanover (m. 1946)
Although King George VI already gave his consent for Princess Sophie and her second husband to get married, consent was later withheld because the UK was at war with Germany (George William’s country) at the time. This is the only known case of marriage permission being withheld by a British monarch. The two married without his consent.
Although not much is known about Prince Philip’s relationship to his other sisters, we do know that he and Sophie were close. Prince Philip even made her godmother to his youngest son, Prince Edward, and was often seen at family events.
It Runs In The (Royal) Family
Prince Philip’s family, despite also being royalty, aren’t nearly as well-known as the family of his wife Queen Elizabeth II. Unfortunately, Philip is the last remaining member of his family. But his family’s legacy lives on in his children and grandchildren, most of whom are in line for the British throne.
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