The departure of Prince Philip ... the rough figure in the British royal family

Prince Philip was a naval officer who spoke with shocking frankness, and as Queen Elizabeth's faithful husband, he helped modernize the monarchy in Britain, but perhaps what will most stuck in people's minds after his departure is his rough personality on the public scene.

He was frank and hot-tempered, and he lived in the shadow of the woman whose marriage ceremony was held in Westminster Abbey in 1947 and always walked one step behind her on the thousands of occasions he attended with her throughout her tenure to the throne, the longest in British history.

Although he does not assume an official role, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh has been one of the most influential figures in the royal family for more than 70 years.

He died on Friday at the age of 99.

Although he was often the target of criticism due to his behavior and statements, which are sometimes described as rude, friends said that he injected into the veins of the royal family wisdom, raging intelligence and renewed energy as Queen Elizabeth's closest confidant.

"He has been, quite simply, my strength and my bond all these years," Elizabeth said in 1997, in a rare personal tribute to Prince Philip, during a speech marking their 50th wedding anniversary.

"I and all of his family, this country and many other countries owe him a debt that is beyond his imagination and more than we know," she added.

And if the prince had ever felt anger in his life as the queen's consort, he had never shown it in public.

But in an interview with the BBC on the occasion of his 90th birthday, he revealed that in the early days he had a hard time finding a role for himself.

He said, "Never before had a situation like this happened. Even if I had asked someone, 'What do you expect me to do?'?"

There is no answer except silence .. They had no idea. "

Born in an era with no respect for the monarchy, Philip helped the Queen weather the waves of political and social upheaval in the twentieth century to forge a monarchy fit for a different era.

Encountering a very traditional royal court, he reformed the palace and tried to harness the growing power of television to broadcast royal influence.

He pressed for the Queen's coronation ceremonies to be broadcast live in 1953, and behind the scenes eliminated outdated behaviors in the palace he deemed stifling.

He was the first member of the royal family to give a TV interview.

However, later in his life, he was criticized for obstructing the monarchy from adapting to the times, and critics blamed him for his own condescending style of his children’s failure to form happy families.

He and the Queen have four children: Charles, Prince of Wales (born 1948), Princess Anne (1950), Prince Andrew (1960) and Prince Edward (1964).

The marriages of three of them ended in divorce.

'Strength and bond'

For Queen Elizabeth, Philip was a support husband whom members of the courtiers say was the only one treating her like a human being.

Despite rumors of his infidelity, the couple stayed together and it became apparent after this long life that they were loving and respectful of each other.

They celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary in November 2017.

But Philip, the son of the exiled Greek prince Andrew and descendant of Queen Victoria, the great-grandfather of Queen Elizabeth, has never won the hearts of all Britons.

Elizabeth was the sovereign, but in family matters Philip was the head of the family.

After the marriage of Princess Anne first and then Prince Andrew and Prince Charles collapsed, observers of the royal family pointed the finger of accusation at Prince Philip, describing him as the cold, dominant father.

When the popularity of Windsor was shaken by the death of Princess Diana, Prince Charles' first wife, in 1997, some accused him of playing a role in preventing the royal family from adapting to the modern British state.

Ten years after Diana died in a car accident in Paris at the age of thirty-six, Philip faced embarrassment as he heard the accusations of Muhammad Al-Fayed, who previously owned the famous Harrods in London and whose son died in the accident with Diana after she collected him with a love story. That the prince ordered their killing.

A jury rejected the allegations, after finding no evidence to support them.

But such accusations highlighted mixed feelings in the country towards him.

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