By COLlive reporter
As British Jews prepare for Shabbos, news has been received about the death of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, husband of Queen Elizabeth II, at the age of 99 on Friday.
Philip was born into the Greek and Danish royal families. He was born in Greece and was educated in France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. He joined the British Royal Navy in 1939 at the age of 18. During the Second World War, he served with distinction in the Mediterranean and Pacific Fleets.
After the war, Philip was granted permission by George VI to marry Elizabeth. Before the wedding, he was granted the style His Royal Highness and created Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Merioneth, and Baron Greenwich. Philip had four children with Elizabeth: Charles, Prince of Wales; Anne, Princess Royal; Prince Andrew, Duke of York; and Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex.
He was the longest-serving consort of a reigning British monarch and the longest-lived male member of the British royal family. He retired from his royal duties on 2 August 2017, aged 96, having completed 22,219 solo engagements and 5,493 speeches since 1952. He died on 9 April 2021, two months before his 100th birthday.
His death was met with a flood of tributes from across Britain and the world.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote: “I express my deepest condolences to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles, the Royal Family and the people of the United Kingdom on the passing of the Duke of Edinburgh. Prince Philip was the consummate public servant and will be much missed in Israel and across the world.”
Chabad Lubavitch UK offered “condolences to Her Majesty the Queen and all the Royal Family on the sad passing of HRH Prince Philip.”
“He has long been an example of personal dedication and constancy. His Duke of Edinburgh Award has positively transformed the lives of millions of young people in the UK and round the world,” the statement from Chabad UK read.
“I enjoyed immensely my personal conversations with the Duke of Edinburgh, during which I was deeply moved by his extraordinary sense of duty,” British Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis wrote. “A remarkable Royal, working well into his 90s, he became a role model for staying active in one’s later years and demonstrated an unwavering sense of responsibility to our country.
Rabbi Mirvis added: “We remember the Duke’s interaction with, and affection for, the Jewish community in the UK and his connection with Israel, where his mother is buried and which he visited in 1994.”
Rabbi Yitzchok Schochet, Rabbi of the Mill Hill Synagogue in London, noted how each Shabbos, a prayer is recited in synagogues all over the country for Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, alongside the Queen. “Sadly, this Shabbat, the prayer must change,” he said.
“He was a loyal consort to the Queen and has led an honourable life of public duties as a supporting act to the Queen,” Rabbi Schochet said. “His mother was honoured by Yad Vashem for saving Jewish lives during the war; values that will have surely been enshrined within him. We mourn his loss along with the rest of the country.”
“Prince Philip was the first British royal to ever visit the state of Israel,” wrote Rabbi Leibel Fajnland, Director of Chabad of Reston-Herndon in Virginia.
“He went there to pay respects to his mother, who is buried there, on her receiving the Yad Vashem distinction of “a righteous amongst the Gentiles” for having saved a Jewish family during the holocaust.
“An act of sacrifice even more incredible considering that some of her own children were Nazi sympathizers. Condolences to all of my British family and friends.”
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.
His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle. pic.twitter.com/XOIDQqlFPn
— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) April 9, 2021
“Prince Philip earned the affection of generations here in the United Kingdom, across the Commonwealth and around the world”
Prime Minister Boris Johnson pays tribute to the Duke of Edinburgh, who has died aged 99https://t.co/N3GMfUBjjk pic.twitter.com/oKlZ1SuGgS
— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) April 9, 2021
May this be a royally-teachable moment for the Yidden.
Incorrect
Neither Prince Philip or the Queen ever visited Israel for a Royal State Visit. In fact it was official Foreign Office policy not to allow formal Royal State Visits to Israel. Prince Philip only visited in a private capacity for his Mother as did Prince Charles for the funeral of Shimon Peres. Prince William was the first royal to visit Israel for a Royal State a visit.