Princess Anne & Prince Edward Praise Their Father Prince Philip After His Death, She Admits 'Life Will Be Completely Different' Going Forward
In a prerecorded interview with ITV — which is supposed to be broadcast when Prince Philip died — two of his children, Princess Anne and Prince Edward, looked back on their father's incredible life.
"Without him, life will be completely different," Anne, 70, said in the clip. "But from society's perspective, he was able to keep pace with the kind of technological changes that have such an impact … but above all that it's not about the technology, it's about the people."
For his part, the 57-year-old gushed about Philip and Queen Elizabeth's great relationship.
"My parents have been such a fantastic support to each other during all those years and all those events and all those tours and events overseas," he said. "To have someone that you confide in and smile about things that you perhaps could not in public. To be able to share that is immensely important."
Anne even discussed her father's "nomadic" childhood; he was smuggled out of Corfu, Greece, in a crate and later settled in Paris.
“It must have been really quite difficult because he was that much younger than his sisters," she shared.
"He was virtually a refugee as this stage because he had nowhere else to go literally. And that probably why Gordonstoun had such an impact," she said, referring to the boarding school he attended.
Later on, The Duke of Edinburgh Award, a self-improvement program for people ages 14 to 24, would be named after him.
"The Duke of Edinburgh Award is probably among the best-known of the foundations in his name, and initially started by his former headmaster Kurt Hahn, who when it was rolled out beyond Gordonstoun came to my father and said, 'Would you get involved in this?'" Edward said.
"My father got Lord Hunt involved in helping to shape how it would roll out and that was of course one of his geniuses, being able to find the right people to take things on and shape them," Edward continued. "The fact it has now spread to more than 140 countries, way beyond the Commonwealth, way beyond the English speaking world, is enormous testament to that original vision."
Anne added, “He believed there were things outside [of school] which were necessary to help you develop as an individual, which played to your strengths and if that weren’t academic there were other things that would be your strength."
Philip died on Friday, April 9 — just a few weeks after he was released from the hospital.
"It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen has announced the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh," the palace said in a statement. "His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle."
