Province sends heartfelt condolences following the passing of Prince Philip to the Grand Lodge Above
The Provincial Grand Master of Hertfordshire, Paul Gower, has expressed his heartfelt condolences on behalf of the province to Her Majesty the Queen following the death of Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, her husband of 73 years.
Prince Philip died on April 9 aged 99 at Windsor Castle. He had been in hospital for close to a month earlier this year with an infection.
In 1953 he was initiated into Navy Lodge No. 2612, a lodge whose members include the Queen’s father and great grandfather, who was its founding master.
In 1939, he joined the Royal Navy attending the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth. It was at the college that he first met Princess Elizabeth and the two began exchanging letters. Prince Philip married Princess Elizabeth on 20 November 1947, the eldest daughter of King George VI.
In 1956, the Duke, with Kurt Hahn, became founding chairman of The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme, a self-improvement programme to give young people aged 14 to 24 “a sense of responsibility to themselves and their communities”. He remained its chairman until his death.
In 2013, the Duke of Edinburgh celebrated sixty years as a subscribing member of the Craft. The Grand Master sent him a message of congratulations and in reply, Prince Philip asked for his thanks and best wishes to be expressed to all members.
In 2017, the brethren of Navy Lodge presented Prince Philip, as its most senior naval member as Admiral of the Fleet, with a Tercentenary Medal.
