Prince Philip Turns 99, Thumbs His Nose At Coronavirus

As everyone knows these days, the novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) seems to target the elderly more than any other age group. Well, Britain’s Prince Philip turned an incredible 99 years old on June 10. He was born in 1921! In a time when Britain has seen over 41,000 people die due to Covid-19, and over 290,000 confirmed cases, Prince Philip is still going strong.

Some fans of the British royal family believe this is amazing considering the fact that Prince Philip is Prince Charles’s father, and Prince Charles was himself diagnosed with a Coronavirus infection. Indeed, royal physicians watched Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip closely following Prince Charles’s diagnosis since Prince Charles had been in close contact with the Queen.

In fact, it wasn’t long before Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip removed themselves from Buckingham Palace entirely and fled to Windsor Castle where they self-isolated. Now, Prince Philip and the Queen remain in “lockdown” and Prince Philip reportedly celebrated his birthday by eating a simple lunch with the Queen. Following that lunch, Prince Philip took video calls from friends and family.

Those who know anything about the British royal family know that Prince Philip and Prince Harry were reportedly quite close as Prince Harry grew up. Traditionally, Prince Harry would have been there to help Prince Philip celebrate his birthday. Some royal watchers believe that since Prince Harry is in America and living in Los Angeles, unable to visit Prince Philip because of Covid-19, he may be having a hard time of it.

The truth is, however, that even if Prince Harry, his wife Meghan Markle, and little Prince Archie were still living in the U.K. it’s not likely that circumstances would be any better. With all of the “shelter-in-place” orders and fears, Prince Harry and his family would probably still be calling in to tell Prince Philip “Happy Birthday.”

Some fans of Harry and Meghan feel it’s actually better this way. According to reports, Prince Philip is a huge stickler for tradition and was not happy at all when Prince Harry and Meghan Markle chose to step back from their royal duties. Of course, Prince Harry and Meghan wanted to strike out on their own in a bid for financial independence. Many believe that “financial independence” is merely code for a desire to be free from the control of Buckingham Palace.

Fans might well imagine the strain placed on Prince Harry and Prince Philip’s relationship given the notion that there is a diametrically opposed worldview between the two. Prince Philip isn’t likely to support Prince Harry’s life choices even now.

Some believe Prince Philip may actually be hoping that Prince Harry experiences some hard knocks in America and chooses to come back to the fold when the Crown reviews the agreement made with Prince Harry at the end of a year’s time.

The bottom line is that Prince Philip represents an era that is ending. It may very well be, but fans of the Firm can look, for the moment, at Prince Philip and his long life with a quiet glow of pride.