His Royal Highness

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who died just a couple of months short of his one hundredth birthday,  was a prince among men as well as prince consort to his wife, Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain.  A physically active and intellectually curious man, he was as involved in the welfare of his adopted country in his role as royal consort as his wife's great-great-grandfather, Prince Albert, had been in that same capacity.  He spoke out for preserving the environment and developing and nurturing British youth (the latter cause exemplified by the Duke of Edinburgh's Award for young people), and he served as the head of philanthropic organizations, the list of which is too long to include here.  And he served notably and honorably in the Royal Navy in World War II - which led to his romance with then-Princess Elizabeth.  In an odd reversal of fortune, Philip was the young ingenu who found his Princess Charming.

As the consort to a monarch, Philip became his own man and was as loved as the queen for his own charm and his affable personality.  If there was one moment in Philip's long life that defines him, it is this.  As Philip and Elizabeth were passing through a throng of well-wishers on a London street after a social function, a British female TV news reporter was doing a story on the event.  The Duke of Edinburgh got close enough to her to walk behind her and listen to her report.  After she concluded her report, Philip paused and surprised her by asking her with a smile, "Are you finished?" The reporter had a laugh at her own expense.   

Life after Elizabeth - the prospective Carolean era that the future King Charles III will reign over - is hard enough for Britons to contemplate, but life without Philip must already be difficult to ponder today.  Because Philip was as indispensable to the House of Windsor as the queen has been, and he was indispensable to the queen herself, the love of his life, as he was hers. RIP.