On the Death of HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh - I never met him but .. ...

 I have never met the Duke of Edinburgh or even glimpsed him in person, though, as many are saying since his recent death, he has been there for all of my life and his name cropped up in conversation many times.

My father met him, one day in 1963, working as a draughtsman in Sunderland at J L Thompsons and the Prince visited Doxfords, the largest shipyard in the area. 

The Duke of Edinburgh (as my family always gave him his full title) had walked down the line of office workers who were waiting to meet him and stopped beside my father, put out his hand to shake his and asked him his name and if he was going on holiday this year and where.  My Dad, being a shy, reticent person, immediately had a memory block and couldn't remember where he was going. This was strange as my parents and we three children almost always went  to Keswick in the Lake District for one week's holiday, during the annual "Shipyard Fortnight".  However, my Dad recovered himself enough to be able to answer Prince Philip saying Yes, he was going on holiday, but sorry, he couldn't remember where. This story was no doubt embellished by my mother and us children over the years, but it still remains my only claim to a connection with the Royal Family.

Though today I am certainly no Royalist, I was brought up  - born in 1957 - with the traditions of having a British Royal Family and at some point as a child knew not only the names of the Queen's children but also their birthdays. As this was well before the age of  "Celebrity" as we now know it, The Queen and her family were our "celebrities" and we followed their activities and anniversaries closely. When the film The Royal Family was broadcast in 1969, we watched spellbound that they actually did things like any of us ordinary folk. Whether this was done especially for the film or not, we will never know. 

As a nation in those days we were very different to the nation we are now; whether this is a good or bad thing I have no idea. It is just a fact. Those of us who had parents who experienced WW2, and grandparents WW1, somehow have memories which are quite poignant even if the people involved are not personally known to us. And so the death of the Duke of Edinburgh, just short of his 100th birthday is a moment to reflect on our own memories and bereavements, whether of parents or grandparents and perhaps connect with The Queen and The Royal Family, because we are all human, in their loss.

Rest In Peace