By Salim Yunusa
Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth II’s husband, has died aged 99, Buckingham Palace has announced.
The prince married Princess Elizabeth in 1947, five years before she became Queen, and was the longest-serving royal consort in British history.
The couple had four children, eight grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.
Prince Philip died Friday morning at Windsor Castle, Buckingham Palace said. He was 99.
Philip’s health had been deteriorating for years, with each scare making headlines. In 2018, Prince Philip underwent a hip replacement—and just weeks later made a grand entrance with the Queen at the royal wedding of his grandson Prince Harry to American actress Meghan Markle.
Later, Philip was examined by a doctor after he was in a car accident at Sandringham in January 2019 that flipped the Land Rover he was driving and injured two female passengers.
He spent four night in a London hospital that December to treat a “pre-existing condition,” and was released just before Christmas. The retired Prince then kept a low profile during the coronavirus pandemic while the Queen primarily fulfilled her duties remotely.
He was hospitalized again in February 2021 for what Buckingham Palace vaguely described as a “precautionary measure” after “feeling unwell.”
