His mother gave birth to him on a kitchen table. As a child he was orphaned, homeless and alone in the world. His father was adulterous and was once sentenced to death by a military court. He was finally banished for life from his native Greece. His mother was mentally ill and was committed to an insane asylum. His sisters married Nazis. When he married, he was almost penniless and possessed little more than the clothes on his back. He never had a real home until he married at the age of 26. Six years later, that home would be Buckingham Palace. His wife was the soon-to-be crowned Queen Elizabeth II. He would henceforth be known as consort to the Queen, Prince Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh. This past Saturday, April 17, 2021, his funeral was held in Windsor Castle and he was buried near there.
In the lore of literature, it is the princess who lives a fairy tale. But this time the fantasy belongs to Prince Phillip. How could his happy ending have come from such a miserable beginning? The answer is in his devotion to God, country, and queen. He was an example of selfless service. He was married 73 years to one woman and served her needs unswervingly. She said that he was her “strength and stay.” The Archbishop of Canterbury, head of the Church of England, rightfully declared him to be “and outstanding example of Christian service.” He regularly held talks at Windsor Castle regarding the importance of clergy serving in modern society. He was originally baptized in the Greek Orthodox Church but converted to Anglicanism when he married.
Did he go to heaven? God alone knows, but there are few world leaders today of whom it can be said that they speak and live by Christian values. You can say that about Prince Phillip. What is important to remember is what he overcame at the beginning of his life. His story might have been filled with womanizing, alcohol abuse, sacrilege, and all sorts of bitterness and anger. Instead, against all odds he overcame his ignominious beginnings to set an example of courage, fidelity, and decency. Many politicians, and not a few church leaders today, could learn from that example. As a deliverance minister, I can think of many world leaders on whom I’d like to perform an exorcism. Prince Phillip was not one of them.
