Prince Philip, who is due to celebrate his 100th birthday on June 10, is about to spend his third night in the King Edward VII Hospital in central London for what Buckingam Palace described on Tuesday as “a precautionary measure”. The Queen remains in Windsor Castle, where she has been self-isolating with the prince since most of last year.
But what have the posters got to say?
Those who feel somewhat sentimental about the Royal Family immediately expressed their sympathy with the Duke and wished him a speedy recovery. For example Dan Wooton wishes the Duke well, but takes the opportunity to also remind us that Philip is associated with a kind of old-fashioned stiff upper lip.
Dr. Daniels below acknowledges the Palace’s announcement that COVID is not the problem, but does so within a pointed reference to what many from his profession see as negligence when it comes to other equally deadly conditions.
Prince Philip has a reputation for plain speaking or – in the opinion perhaps of those ‘snowflakes’ that he would disapprove of – being deliberately offensive and reactionary.
The post below reminds us of how outrageous he can be. In it Alan Mercer refers to a book for which Fleur Cowles asked celebrities to say what animal they would like to be reincarnated as. The longer original quote makes it clear that – in this case anyway – Philip is using his dry wit to make a progressive environmental point – about the way humans endanger animal habitats.
But given that Philip’s sister Cecilie eventually joined the Nazi party – and other alleged links between his family and fascism – Philip’s wish to be able to commit genocide is at the very least a bit tactless.
Perhaps Philip’s dark sense of humour helped get him get through what was for him a very active and heroic war. According to Figuregirl77 below this, together with his other acheievements, means we should cut him some slack.
And there is a lot of evidence that he can be charming as well. For example during the first national lockdown he issued a statement expressing his gratitude to all key workers for selflessly helping to keep Britain running smoothly.
Since retirement he has continued to support some 800 charities, and also sent a letter in December to the Chartered College of Teaching to thank teachers for their work during the pandemic.
Judging by darlingheart’s post below, Philip is part of some sort of cultural glue that helps keep the country together in these uncertain times.
Regardless of different opinions about the monarchy as an institution, one must agree that this particular royal has been a huge part of this country’s life, and given his age most of us have ‘known’ him since we were children. We wish Prince Philip a speedy recovery.