Prince Philip’s death came two months before he would have turned 100 years old. He would have been the first male British royal to reach this age.
Organisations for the celebration of his birthday on June 10 were already underway when he died, despite Prince Philip being ‘quite reluctant to celebrate’, according to a palace aide.
Speaking to The Telegraph in the year 2000, Philip revealed he ‘couldn’t imagine anything worse’ than turning 100.
The duke’s 100th birthday celebrations would have looked very different from the last royal centenary birthday, the Queen Mother’s.
Celebrations for the Queen Mother in the year 2000 included an 8,000 person parade, a fly by from the Red Arrows, and the release of 100 white doves. There were 40,000 members of the public gathered along Pall Mall to watch the spectacle.
Though no official details of the birthday plans have been released, one omission had been confirmed; the attendance of Prince Andrew. Prince Andrew has been removed from any public royal engagements since the sandal concerning his association with Jeffery Epstein broke in 2020.
It is not confirmed if Prince Philip’s 100th birthday will be marked publicly in any way, however there will be activity for The Queen’s official birthday, set to take place this year on June 12th.
For the Queen’s 95th celebrations there will be several gun salutes across London, but the traditional Trooping of the Colour will not go ahead this year due to covid restrictions. It is expected a smaller celebration will take place at Windsor Castle.
