English Queen Elizabeth’s husband, Prince Philip, celebrates his 99th birthday today, June 10. The celebration has been shielding with the Queen at Windsor Castle during the coronavirus lockdown.
The photo was taken in the castle’s grounds during sunny weather last week. It is the first public photo of the duke since he was seen leaving hospital in London on December 24, 2019.
Prince Philip spent four nights in the private King Edward VII’s Hospital in relation to a “pre-existing condition”.
In the picture, which was taken by a Press Association photographer, the duke is wearing a Household Division tie.
The Queen is wearing a heart-shaped 18.8 carat diamond brooch called Cullinan V, which was worn by her grandmother, Queen Mary, at the Delhi Durbar in British-ruled India in 1911. Queen Elizabeth inherited the item in 1953, and she has worn it several times including for her granddaughter Princess Eugenie’s wedding and London Fashion Week. Prince Philip, in a blazer and grey trousers, is seen wearing a tie of the Household Division, which comprises seven British Army regiments dedicated to serving Queen Elizabeth II.
Prince Philip, who has been married to the Queen for 72 years, has rarely been seen in public since his retirement from royal duties in 2017.
He is the longest-serving consort in British history and the oldest serving partner of a reigning monarch.
Meanwhile, the Queen cut short her official duties because of the coronavirus in mid-March.
Prince Philip, who had been staying at the Sandringham estate, was flown by helicopter to join his forever love, the Queen at Windsor Castle.
The government’s rules for the lockdown identified groups of “clinically vulnerable” people who should take particular care to minimize contact with anyone outside their household.
They included those aged 70 or over, “regardless of medical conditions”.
The managing editor of Majesty magazine, Joe Little, said the royal couple’s time in lockdown together was “an opportunity for them in their later years to reconnect… It is the perfect royal cocooning”.
He added: “They will make a fuss of him on Wednesday as much as you can make a fuss of the Duke of Edinburgh.”
The royal couple has four children blessed to their marriage; Prince Andrew (Duke of York), Prince Charles (Prince of Wales), Anne (Princess Royal), and Prince Edward (Earl of Wessex).
