Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

[opinionated ow]

Sad news overnight with the passing of the Duke of Edinburgh. He was an interesting character. A genuine war hero, dedicated to his wife, a hard worker and they say he conducted over 22,000 formal functions in his life time. I liked him because he didn't suffer fools gladly, was cheeky but also understood his job and fulfilled it to the best of his ability. It's officially a time of mourning now in the Commonwealth of Nations and things certainly won't be the same with the Royal family. The Queen, bless her, is 94 and I'm sure she will take it in her stride but it's weird. He was one of the last of that generation that exemplified the best of the Human spirit that I think my generation sadly lacks

[nrc]

I hadn't read about his military service until recently. I read Max Hasting's book on WWI and it touched on how much the nobility were expected to serve in a leadership role in the military. At the time, it was as much because commoners weren't considered to be suited to leadership but much of the nobility served and many of them paid dearly.

Of course, Prince Phillip was WWII, not I. Attitudes had changed somewhat but not dramatically by then. Some of the well known royals have carried on the tradition of service, but I wonder if that still carries down to the lesser titled class.