Duke of Edinburgh to stand down from royal duties for good from August, Buckingham Palace announces

[EnterpriseSovereign]

The Duke of Edinburgh is to stand down from royal duties for good from August, Buckingham Palace has announced.

Prince Philip, 95, is the longest serving consort in British history and the oldest serving partner of a reigning monarch.

A letter from Buckingham Palace says the Duke has made the personal decision that "he will no longer carry out public engagements from the autumn of this year" and he has "the full support of the Queen".

Link.

[Iroscato]

Fair play to the old boy, he's had a damn impressive run. Hopefully he can continue to be woefully inappropriate at the few public events he does attend for some years to come.

[Eternal_Freedom]

Yeah, a 95 year old guy only now retiring from what is by all accounts a very punishing schedule is something to be impressed by.

[Solauren]

Good for him.

Step back, and let the next King take up the slack.

[Dominus Atheos]

This question has been bugging me all day... If Scotland leaves the UK, would he still be the Duke of Edinburgh?

[Crazedwraith]

This question has been bugging me all day... If Scotland leaves the UK, would he still be the Duke of Edinburgh?

Yes.

Well, it depends if they go full republican at the same time as going independent. But the Queen is still the Queen of a lot of places that are independent of the UK.

I'm not sure if going independent would automatically invalidate the peerage system but I doubt it.

[The Romulan Republic]

Yeah, a 95 year old guy only now retiring from what is by all accounts a very punishing schedule is something to be impressed by.

I concure.

Would that we could all have such endurance.

As I've said before- whatever my feelings on monarchy as a concept, I can't help but respect the current British monarchy.

[madd0ct0r]

In other news, following an ATOS assement he has been found fit for work and returned to duties or face his financial support docked.

[streetad]

This question has been bugging me all day... If Scotland leaves the UK, would he still be the Duke of Edinburgh?

Well Scotland can claim just as much 'ownership' of the British monarchy as England. There doesn't seem to be any particular republican sentiment associated with Scottish Nationalism, so they would go back to the pre-Act of Union status of being monarch of both independent countries.

Hopefully avoiding the complications this caused last time due to not actually having any power...

[Eternal_Freedom]

In other news, following an ATOS assement he has been found fit for work and returned to duties or face his financial support docked.

I should not have laughed at this as hard as I did.

[Lord Revan]

This question has been bugging me all day... If Scotland leaves the UK, would he still be the Duke of Edinburgh?

Well Scotland can claim just as much 'ownership' of the British monarchy as England. There doesn't seem to be any particular republican sentiment associated with Scottish Nationalism, so they would go back to the pre-Act of Union status of being monarch of both independent countries.

Hopefully avoiding the complications this caused last time due to not actually having any power...

actually wouldn't Scotland have stronger claim for the UK monarchy seeing as it was form when king of Scotland at the time thought it was too much hassle to also be the the King of England and merged the crowns into King of the United Kingdoms

[Elheru Aran]

I'm not sure if going independent would automatically invalidate the peerage system but I doubt it.

IIRC, the decision whether or not to respect the peerage would be decided after independence. If they dissolve their peerage, then he would not remain Duke of Edinburgh. If they keep it (they do like their lairds), it's possible it may become simply a honorarium extended to Philip, similar to how Edward VIII got stuck with Duke of Windsor, and any future royal spouses might not have the duchy.

[Thanas]

In other news, following an ATOS assement he has been found fit for work and returned to duties or face his financial support docked.

No no, what is good for the goose is definitely not good for the gander.

[Gandalf]

Hopefully this means he'll never address people in public again.

How will the world cope without Prince Philip's wonderful ability to say just the right thing at public occasions? Who knows... But in memory of his long and colourful career, we have this list of his best work for you.

Prince Philip has announced he is retiring from his job - whatever that is. Let's reflect on his long and verbally incontinent career. Here is a round up of some of his best moments under the spotlight.

“If you stay here much longer, you will go home with slitty eyes.” Said to a British student in China in 1986.

“You managed not to get eaten then?” Said to someone who had just hiked across Papua New Guinea.

“How do you keep the natives off the booze long enough to pass the test?” Said to a Scottish driving instructor in 1995.

“It looks as though it was put in by an Indian.” Description of a fuse box at a Scottish factory in 1999. Later he claimed: “I meant to say cowboys. I just got my cowboys and Indians mixed up.”

“There's a lot of your family in tonight.” Said in 2009 to an Indian businessman at an event for British Indians to meet the Queen.

“If it has four legs and it is not a chair, if it has got two wings and it flies, but is not an aeroplane, and if it swims and it is not a submarine, the Cantonese will eat it.” World Wildlife Fund meeting, 1986.

“You ARE a woman, aren't you?” Said to a Kenyan woman in 1994 at an award ceremony.

“And what exotic part of the world do you come from?” The question asked in 1999 of British politician Lord Taylor, who is of Jamaican ancestry. Taylor responded with: “Birmingham.”

“Oh no, I might catch some ghastly disease.” When asked in 1992 if he wanted to pat a koala.

“Do you still throw spears at each other?” The Prince to Aboriginal Elder William Brin in Queensland, 2002.

“So who's on drugs here?... HE looks as if he's on drugs.” At Bangladeshi youth club, 2002.

"I don't know how they are going to integrate in places like Glasgow and Sheffield.” Said about a group of students from Brunei.

“Reichskanzler.” Calling German chancellor Helmut Kohl by Hitler's title during a speech in 1997.

“It looks like the kind of thing my daughter would bring back from her school art lessons." Said about traditional Ethiopian art.

“Are you all one family?” Said to a mixed race dance group at a Royal Variety Performance.

“Who do you sponge off?” Said to a group of Asian women who were volunteers at a London community centre.

“You look like you’re ready for bed!” Said to the President of Nigeria who was wearing traditional garb.

[streetad]

This question has been bugging me all day... If Scotland leaves the UK, would he still be the Duke of Edinburgh?

Well Scotland can claim just as much 'ownership' of the British monarchy as England. There doesn't seem to be any particular republican sentiment associated with Scottish Nationalism, so they would go back to the pre-Act of Union status of being monarch of both independent countries.

Hopefully avoiding the complications this caused last time due to not actually having any power...

actually wouldn't Scotland have stronger claim for the UK monarchy seeing as it was form when king of Scotland at the time thought it was too much hassle to also be the the King of England and merged the crowns into King of the United Kingdoms

Well the Stuarts were Scottish monarchs first, but James I/VI was also Elizabeth I's closest heir so there's continuity there too.

The actual Act of Union came after Scotland bankrupted itself with colonial misadventures and was driven by the English and Scottish parliaments rather than any decision by the monarch.

Of course the Stuarts were then immediately booted out for being insufficiently Protestant which is where it all gets a bit tenuous.

[Tribble]

The current Monarchy stems from William of Orange IIRC.

[streetad]

The current Monarchy stems from William of Orange IIRC.

He was the grandson of Charles I and his wife was Mary II, the actual Stuart heir to the throne. They ruled as theoretically equal 'co-monarchs' in an attempt to maximise their legitimacy at a time when there was a very real threat that James II might return from France with another Catholic army. Although in reality given the times and William's driven, alpha-male character, he did pretty much all the actual ruling. In other words, William was basically a seasoned military strongman invited in by Parliament to further the Protestant cause and keep James out.

They also didn't have any children so the throne went to Mary's sister Anne after their death.

There have actually been a couple of changes of dynasty since then, though. Most importantly George I of Hanover was chosen despite being more than 50th in line to the throne after Parliament passed the Act of Settlement banning Catholics from the monarchy.

[Omeros]

This question has been bugging me all day... If Scotland leaves the UK, would he still be the Duke of Edinburgh?

Yes. The SNP have said in the past that if Scotland becomes independent, the Queen would still be head of state, so the DoE would retain his title. Although if Scotland then becomes a Republic, that might not be the case for too long.