RIP Prince Philip

Very sad news that His Royal Highness Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh has died today, a Royal with a true sense of duty in his support of our Queen. He may have been a little outspoken at times but it was a fault that endeared him to most of us.

I have always felt a special affinity with Prince Philip ever since I discovered that he and my father, Edward Graham Sims, were born on the same day, 10th June 1921.

In my youth the BBC news, at the beginning of the bulletin, would announce royal birthdays and on 10th June would say something like ‘today is the birthday of HRH Prince Philip’ and would play the play the National Anthem.

In my ignorance I thought it very fitting that my father should also be honoured with the National Anthem. Sadly he died somewhat sooner than Prince Philip, on 15th May 1973.

They both served in the Royal Navy during WW2. My father graduated from Imperial College, London in July 1941 and in August 1941 was accepted for Naval service as a Sub. Lieut. (E), RNVR, serving first at Wallsend and later as Lt. (E) RN in HMS Ajax in the Mediterranean and HMS Vengeance in the Far East in time for the Japanese surrender.

With the death of her husband our Queen is bound to miss his support intensely but I hope that her faith will be a consolation to her. Please pray for her.

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