After the Royal Family made an official announcement on Thursday morning that Prince Philip would be retiring from public life this fall, many were left wondering what this would mean for the Queen and the rest of his family.
CTV’s Royal Commentator Richard Berthelsen said that Philip, who is also known as the Duke of Edinburgh, has been talking about stepping back and letting others take the reins for the past five or six years. He said both the Queen and the Duke have been reducing their number of public engagements over the last decade.
Berthelsen said the Duke’s age (he will be 96 in June) most likely played a big role in his decision to retire from his royal duties.
“Once you get into your 90s obviously there’s a just a limit to how late you can stay up, how many events you can do in a day, how much travel you can do,” Berthelsen told CTVNews.ca on Thursday.
Philip’s health
Although there has been widespread speculation about the Prince’s health, Berthelsen said the Duke hasn’t had any known issues for the past 18 months. He also said Philip’s intention to keep his prior commitments before the fall suggests that he’s not suffering from any immediate health concerns.
Philip will still attend events that are particularly important to him and any special family or state occasions, but his appearance at these engagements might be different, according to Berthelsen.
He said the Duke may choose to limit his participation at the events he does attend. Berthelsen suggested, for example, that Philip might decide to only appear on the balcony at Buckingham Palace during the Queen’s birthday celebration instead of riding in the carriage with her for the big parade.
The announcement’s timing
Now that the Royal Family has celebrated the Queen’s 90th birthday, Berthelsen said the absence of major upcoming milestones may explain the timing for the Duke’s retirement.
Berthelsen said the timing is also significant in that his retirement in the fall coincides with Prince William and his wife the Duchess of Cambridge’s planned move to London from their country home in Norfolk. He suspects Prince William and Kate will be attending more public events with the Queen in Philip’s absence.
“There’s no question that they are going to have to play a much larger role,” he said. “This announcement kind of seems like it was in the works for a while.”
Thursday’s announcement said the Queen would keep carrying out her royal engagements with the “support of members of the Royal Family.” Berthelsen said the public is expected to see a lot more of the Queen’s son, Prince Charles, as well as the younger royals next fall.
“The Queen tends not to really like to do things on her own,” Berthelsen said. “She does a lot with the Duke and has more and more as time has gone on.”
Royal retirement
Although there’s no traditional method of retirement for the royals, Berthelsen said it’s normal for members of the Royal Family to gradually reduce the number of public events they attend as they grow older.
“They’re still doing an enormous amount. More than most people would do,” he said.
Christopher Warwick, a royal historian, told CTV’s Your Morning on Thursday that he thinks Philip will still be busy pursuing his personal interests, such as driving carriages and tending to the property at the House of Windsor, where he maintains the role of ranger.
“This is a man who will never be at a loss for things to do,” Warwick said. “It’s time that he step down and have a bit more time for himself really.”
