Prince Philip

I never met Prince Philip, but I have lived in countries ruled by his wife. (England 2007-2010, Canada 2010-2012) I felt sad when I heard about his death and I noticed that many obituaries spoke about something deeper than just sadness. A sense of loss, the end of a time, the passing of an age.

John Milbank wrote: Prince Philip took more pride in the roles he had accidentally inherited than in the personal gifts which he was never able fully to develop. He put companionship before self-realisation and acceptance of a sacred symbolic destiny before the mere influencing of events. In all these respects he implicitly rebuked our prevailing meritocracy which over-values officially accredited attainment, and our prevailing narcissism which valorises the assertion of discrete identities. (https://unherd.com/thepost/prince-philips-socratic-sense-of-duty/)

And Gavin Ashenden, whose father served together with Prince Philip in WOII, noted: In giving up a career in the navy he loved, where he excelled he exemplified the kind of humility and self-giving that Christianity has at its heart. Baptised as a Greek Orthodox he accepted the idiosyncrasies of Anglicanism for the woman he loved and at whose side he walked for eight decades. He exemplified patience, long-suffering, humility and kindness, when the cost of all of these virtues was demandingly high. (https://ashenden.org/2021/04/09/a-tribute-to-prince-phillip/)

A prayer

Into your hands, O Lord,
we humbly entrust our brother Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
In this life you embraced him with your tender love,
and opened to him the gate of heaven.
The old order has passed away,
as you welcome him into paradise,
where there will be no sorrow, no weeping nor pain,
but the fullness of peace and joy
with your Son and the Holy Spirit for ever and ever.
Amen.