London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Aug 19, 2026

Prince Philip: William and Harry pay tribute to grandfather

Prince Philip: William and Harry pay tribute to grandfather

The Dukes of Cambridge and Sussex have paid tribute to their grandfather, the Duke of Edinburgh.

In separate statements, Prince William described him as an "extraordinary man", while Prince Harry said he was "a man of service, honour and great humour" and the "legend of banter".

"I will miss my Grandpa, but I know he would want us to get on with the job," Prince William added.

Prince Philip died at Windsor Castle on Friday aged 99.

It comes as parliaments across the UK were recalled to remember the duke.

"My grandfather's century of life was defined by service - to his country and Commonwealth, to his wife and Queen, and to our family," Prince William said in a statement.

"I feel lucky to have not just had his example to guide me, but his enduring presence well into my own adult life - both through good times and the hardest days.

"I will always be grateful that my wife had so many years to get to know my grandfather and for the kindness he showed her.

"I will never take for granted the special memories my children will always have of their great-grandpa coming to collect them in his carriage and seeing for themselves his infectious sense of adventure as well as his mischievous sense of humour!"

He added that he and his wife, Catherine, would "continue to do what he would have wanted and will support the Queen in the years ahead".

Kensington Palace shared a photograph of Prince George with his great-grandfather Philip, taken by the Duchess of Cambridge, alongside the message from William

Paying tribute to his grandfather, Prince Harry said: "He was authentically himself, with a seriously sharp wit, and could hold the attention of any room due to his charm - and also because you never knew what he might say next.

"He will be remembered as the longest reigning consort to the monarch, a decorated serviceman, a prince and a duke.

"But to me, like many of you who have lost a loved one or grandparent over the pain of this past year, he was my grandpa: master of the barbecue, legend of banter, and cheeky right 'til the end."

There was clearly a lot of fun

By Jonny Dymond, Royal correspondent

He walked next to them on the hardest public day of their lives, in the public procession behind their mother's coffin. And now the brothers pay tribute in their own style, with tenderness and with love.

Harry, you may have noticed, now lives in California. His message is more informal, with memories of family outings, the back and forth of conversation, of a grandfather never short of a quip or an impatient snort.

William writes as a grandson who has lost a guide and support; but also as a father who saw the mutual delight of grandfather and son together.

Both men flesh out in the few words they write the man they, and the nation, have said farewell to. There was clearly a lot of laughter. There was clearly a lot of fun.

Once more the gruff caricature we were left with of the duke is re-drawn, and filled out.

Prince Harry described Prince Philip as "a rock" for the Queen "with unparalleled devotion".

"While I could go on, I know that right now he would say to all of us, beer in hand, 'Oh do get on with it!'" he said.

"So, on that note, Grandpa, thank you for your service, your dedication to Granny, and for always being yourself."

Prince Harry signed off his message with the words "Per Mare, Per Terram", meaning "By Sea, By Land" in Latin - the motto of the Royal Marines, of which Prince Philip and Prince Harry were both Captain General.

Philip held the role for 64 years before retiring in 2017. Harry succeeded him briefly before stepping down as a working royal last year when he moved to the US.

Prince Harry and Prince Philip were both Captain General of the Royal Marines

Meanwhile, MPs began proceedings in the House of Commons by observing a minute's silence to remember the duke's life.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Prince Philip had "touched the lives of millions", including through the Duke of Edinburgh's Award schemes.

"By his tireless, unstinting service to the Queen, the Commonwealth, the armed forces, the environment, to millions of young people and not-so-young people around the world, and to countless other causes, he gave us and he gives us all a model of selflessness and of putting others before ourselves," he said.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the duke's life "shaped modern Britain and provided much-needed stability to our national story".

Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon led the tributes in Holyrood, describing the duke and the Queen as a "true partnership".

In the Welsh Senedd, First Minister Mark Drakeford said Prince Philip led a "remarkable" life and had championed a "broad diversity" of causes in Wales.

And in the Northern Ireland Assembly, First Minister Arlene Foster described the duke as a "true intergenerational legacy to our youth, our United Kingdom and the world's environment".

Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill said there had been "significant interventions" by the Royal Family to "assist in the building of relationships between Britain and Ireland", which should be recognised.

In the Lords, former children's television presenter Baroness Benjamin said Prince Philip had made a "gigantic contribution" to Britain and the Commonwealth and they had kept up a correspondence over the years, including him writing to congratulate her on receiving her OBE and damehood.

A ceremonial royal funeral, which will be televised, will be held for the duke at St George's Chapel, in the grounds of Windsor Castle, at 15:00 BST on 17 April.

His children and grandchildren are expected to attend and Prince Harry has arrived in the UK from the US for the service. His wife, Meghan, who is pregnant, will remain at home in California on the advice of doctors.

A spokesman for the Duke of Sussex said he was at Frogmore Cottage in Windsor, his former residence, observing coronavirus regulations.

It will be the first time Prince William and Prince Harry will meet face to face since the Sussexes aired criticisms of the Royal Family in an interview to US broadcaster Oprah Winfrey last month.

On Sunday, former prime minister Sir John Major, who was appointed a special guardian to the brothers after their mother, Diana, Princess of Wales died in 1997, said the "shared grief" over the death of Prince Philip is an "ideal opportunity" to mend any rifts in the Royal Family.

Over the weekend, Prince Philip's children - the Prince of Wales, the Princess Royal, the Duke of York and the Earl of Wessex - also paid tribute to their father, with Prince Andrew saying the Queen had described his death as "having left a huge void in her life".

Funeral preparations under way at Windsor

by Duncan Kennedy, BBC News

Windsor is now a town with twin-sided attentions: the crowd-less castle side, sealed-off and busy preparing for a royal funeral, alongside the energised shop side, resurfacing from lockdown.

At the entrance to the castle, the glistening steel barriers of the media enclosure are packed with cameras trained on the ancient grey walls. They look out on a scene of perpetual preparation: forklift trucks, catering vans and council vehicles enter, leave, turn and reverse.

Scaffolding, chairs, flowers and boxes are disgorged. And miles of cables are being unfurled from vast drums like never-ending electrical snakes by the television, radio and lighting professionals who will bring the funeral to the world.

Police have replaced pedestrians in this cordoned-off unit of determined workflows: on foot, on bicycles and in their cars, their blacked-out windows gliding past the castle's famous black-cloaked wardens, lined up across the entrance.

The paper plans of countless committees across endless decades are coming to a melancholy fruition, to give His Royal Highness, the Duke of Edinburgh, a fitting send-off.


"A huge void in her life": Prince Andrew describes the Queen's feelings of loss


Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
A Sleepless Night on Wall Street: Nasdaq to Begin Nearly Round-the-Clock Trading
"The First in the World": 69-Year-Old Protested Artificial Intelligence—and Went to Jail
Ukraine's Ousted Defence Minister Calls for Wartime Presidential Election
UK Marks Ten Years of Night Tube as London Weekend Usage Exceeds Eighty-One Thousand Journeys a Night
Met Office Issues Thunderstorm Warnings Across Northern Ireland Over Flash-Flood Risk
Frasers Group Raises Stake in Hugo Boss to Nearly Forty-Eight Percent
Scottish Clyde Marine Pilots Prepare for Strike That Could Disrupt Glasgow and Greenock Shipping
Twenty Passengers Injured After Southern Train Derails Near Lewes in East Sussex
Government Rules Out High-Speed Rail Revival Between West Midlands and Northern England
West Midlands Bus Network Returns to Public Ownership in Twenty-Four Million Pound Deal
UK Competition Watchdog Targets Trainline, Virgin Atlantic and RED Driving School Over Drip Pricing
Northern Ireland Health Minister Mike Nesbitt Resigns After Dispute Over Causeway Hospital Surgery Closure
UK Long-Term Government Bond Yields Rise to Five Point Eight Five Percent as Borrowing Costs Surge
UK Government Overhauls Planning Rules to Push Housing Development Near Major Transport Hubs
UK Health and Economic Pressures Highlight Wider Strain on Households and Public Finances
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham Reaffirms Full Support for Ukraine Amid Russian Warnings
Sainsbury’s Suspends Live Facial Recognition at London Store After Customer Misidentified
Artists Urge UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham to Reject New North Sea Oil and Gas Licensing
UK Government Awards Four Hundred and Fifty-Six Million Pound Civil Service Training Contract to EY and KPMG
Global Government Bond Yields Rise as Middle East Conflict Fuels Inflation Concerns
British Housing Market Records Weakest August Since Two Thousand and Eighteen as Asking Prices Fall
UK Announces New Sanctions on Russian Shadow Fleet and Financial Institutions
UK Approves Virgin Rail Group Services Through Channel Tunnel, Challenging Eurostar
UK Government Backs Three Hundred Million Pound AI Investment Zone in North Lanarkshire
UK Declares National Salmonella Outbreak Linked to Imported Eggs
China’s Lifelike AI Humans Move From Livestreams Into Real-World Service Roles
UK Government Rolls Out £5.8 Billion Regional Investment Programme to Revive High Streets
AstraZeneca Ends Late-Stage Lung Cancer Trial After Data Shows No Survival Benefit
London Stocks Fall for Sixth Day as Bond Yields and Middle East Tensions Weigh on Markets
UK Government Rewrites Planning Rules to Accelerate Housing Near Transport Hubs
UK Wildfires Spread Across Southern England as Met Office Issues Severe Heat Warnings
British Doctors Warn Cancer Care Is at Risk as Hospitals Reject More Than a Quarter of Urgent Referrals
UK Hospitals Suspend Critical Care as Extreme Heat Exposes Infrastructure Failures
Sarah Ferguson Reportedly Retreats to Late Ex-Boyfriend's Swiss Chalet
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez Sign Prenup Protecting Their Separate Fortunes
Thieves Steal Antonello da Messina Renaissance Masterpieces From Sicilian Museum
Better.com Founder Who Fired 900 Employees on Zoom Is Ousted as CEO
Italian Speed Camera Issues Nearly 32,000 Fines in 10 Weeks, Worth More Than €3 Million
AI Manager at San Francisco Store Recommends Firing Human Employee
Google Launches Pixel 11 With Gemini AI at the Center of Its Hardware Strategy
Campaigners Press Government to Strengthen Rights for Four Million Gig Workers
Government Considers Higher Private Rents to Spread Asylum Accommodation Across UK
UK Moves to Protect Historic Pubs From Conversion Into Housing and Offices
Nigel Farage Wins Clacton By-Election to Return to House of Commons
British Manufacturers Report Rising Cybersecurity Threats Across Industrial Supply Chains
Royal Navy Increases Monitoring of Russian Ships in UK Waters by 25 Percent
England Adds More Than 350 Medical Training Posts to Strengthen NHS Capacity
NHS Waiting Lists Over 52 Weeks Rise by More Than 11,000 Patients
Brent Crude Near $88 Raises Fresh UK Energy Cost Concerns
UK Treasury Warns Prolonged Strait of Hormuz Disruption Could Cut 2027 Growth to 0.3 Percent
×