As such, he was the consort of the British monarch from his wife's accession on 6 February until his death in , making him the longest-serving royal consort in history. Philip was born in Greece into the Greek and Danish royal families ; his family was exiled from the country when he was eighteen months old. After being educated in France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, he joined the Royal Navy in , when he was 18 years old. In the summer of , the King granted Philip permission to marry Elizabeth, then aged Before the official announcement of their engagement in July , Philip stopped using his Greek and Danish royal titles and styles , became a naturalised British subject , and adopted his maternal grandparents' surname Mountbatten.
Philip left active military service when Elizabeth ascended the throne in , having reached the rank of commander. In , he was created a British prince. A sports enthusiast, Philip helped develop the equestrian event of carriage driving. He was patron , president, or member of over organisations, including the World Wide Fund for Nature , and served as chairman of The Duke of Edinburgh's Award , a youth awards programme for people aged 14 to He retired from royal duties in , aged 96, having completed 22, solo engagements and 5, speeches since , and died at the age of 99 at Windsor Castle.
He was baptised in the Greek Orthodox rite at St. George's Church in the Old Fortress in Corfu. His godparents were his paternal grandmother, Queen Olga of Greece; his cousin George, Crown Prince of Greece ; his uncle Lord Louis Mountbatten ; and the municipality of Corfu, represented by its mayor, Alexandros Kokotos, [ 9 ] and by the president of the council, Stylianos Maniarizis.
Shortly after Philip's birth, his maternal grandfather died in London. The Marquess of Milford Haven was a naturalised British subject who, after a career in the Royal Navy , had renounced his German titles and adopted the surname Mountbatten —an Anglicised version of Battenberg —during the First World War , owing to anti-German sentiment in the United Kingdom.
After visiting London for his grandfather's memorial service , Philip and his mother returned to Greece, where Prince Andrew had remained to command a Greek Army division embroiled in the Greco-Turkish War. Greece suffered significant losses in the war and the Turks made substantial gains. Philip's uncle and high commander of the Greek expeditionary force , King Constantine I , was blamed for the defeat and was forced to abdicate in September The new military government arrested Andrew, along with others.
