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Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born 10 June 1921), has received numerous titles, decorations, and honorary appointments, both during and before his time as consort to Queen Elizabeth II. Each is listed below. Where two dates are shown, the first indicates the date of receiving the title or award (the title as Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark being given as from his birth) and the second indicates the date of its loss, renunciation or when its use was discontinued.
Contents
- Royal and noble titles and styles
- Royal styles and titles 1947
- Royal title
- Order of Australia
- Naval ranks and appointments
- Commonwealth realms
- Other Commonwealth countries
- Foreign honours
- Wear of orders decorations and medals
- Honorary military positions
- Citizenship
- City freedoms
- Scholastic
- Awards
- Geographic locations
- Buildings
- Highways roads and bridges
- Parks
- References
Royal and noble titles and styles
The Prince's style and title in full: His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Merioneth, Baron Greenwich, Royal Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, Extra Knight of the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle, Member of the Order of Merit, Grand Master and First and Principal Knight Grand Cross of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, Knight of the Order of Australia, Additional Member of the Order of New Zealand, Extra Companion of the Queen's Service Order, Royal Chief of the Order of Logohu, Extraordinary Companion of the Order of Canada, Extraordinary Commander of the Order of Military Merit, Canadian Forces Decoration, Lord of Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, Privy Councillor of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada, Personal Aide-de-Camp to Her Majesty, Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom.
Royal styles and titles 1947
On 19 November 1947, the day preceding his wedding, King George VI bestowed by Letters Patent the style His Royal Highness on Philip, and on the morning of the wedding, 20 November 1947, further Letters Patent of that day created him Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Merioneth, and Baron Greenwich of Greenwich in the County of London. Consequently, being already a Knight of the Garter, between 19 and 20 November 1947 he bore the unusual style His Royal Highness Sir Philip Mountbatten and is so described in the Letters Patent of 20 November 1947.
Royal title
On the popular, but erroneous, assumption that if Philip had the style of His Royal Highness he was automatically a British Prince, media reports after his marriage to Princess Elizabeth referred to a Prince Philip, with or without reference to any ducal title. This may have been influenced by the fact that he had actually been a Prince of Greece and Denmark by birth, the use of which titles he had renounced already. Although the princely title was omitted in the British Regency Act 1953, and in Letters Patent of November 1953 appointing Counsellors of State, it had been included in Letters Patent of 22 October 1948 conferring princely rank on children from Philip's marriage to Elizabeth. King George VI, however, is believed to have been clear and intentional in having withheld the title of Prince from his future son-in-law.
On 3 February 1953, John Diefenbaker MP made this political football by expressing to the Canadian House of Commons his desire to see Philip bear a title that alluded to the Queen's pan-national position and put forward the suggestion of Prince of the Commonwealth. In May of the following year, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Sir Winston Churchill received a written suggestion from The Queen that her husband be granted the title that Diefenbaker had mentioned, or some other suitable augmentation of his style. Churchill preferred the title Prince Consort, but the Foreign Secretary, Anthony Eden, expressed a preference for Prince of the Realm. While the Commonwealth Prime Ministers were assembled in London, Churchill was requested by the Queen to informally solicit their opinions on the matter of the Queen's husband's title. Canadian Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent was the only one to express "misgivings", while Philip insisted to the Queen that he objected to any enhancement of his title. The Queen thereafter contacted Churchill and told him to drop the matter. In 1955, the South African Prime Minister J.G. Strijdom belatedly made it known that the South African Cabinet objected to the title Prince of the Commonwealth. When told, the Queen continued to express the wish that her husband's position be raised, but rejected the British Cabinet's recommendations of Prince Consort or Prince Royal. The British Cabinet then suggested simply His Royal Highness the Prince, but the Queen was advised that if she still preferred Prince of the Commonwealth, her Private Secretary could write directly to the Commonwealth Governors-General for their response, though warning that if their consent was not unanimous the proposal could not go forward.
The matter appeared left until the publication on 8 February 1957 of an article by P. Wykeham-Bourne in The Evening Standard titled: "Well, is it correct to say Prince Philip?" A few days following, British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan reversed the advice of the Queen's previous ministers and formally recommended that the Queen reject the Prince in favour of Prince of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Her other Realms and Territories, only to change this advice, after she consented, to delete even the vague reference to the Commonwealth countries. Letters Patent were issued on 22 February 1957 giving the Duke the style and titular dignity of a Prince of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (omitting the wording and Her other Realms and Territories). According to the announcement in the London Gazette, he should henceforth be known as His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, with the capitalised definite article normally restricted to the children of monarchs.
The media cultivated speculation in early 2007 that the title of Prince Consort might be conferred to mark the royal couple's 60th wedding anniversary in November that year; however, this did not occur.
Order of Australia
Prince Philip's promotion in 2015 from Companion to Knight of the Order of Australia caused the eruption of some political controversy in Australia. Prime Minister Tony Abbott's recommendation (via Sir Peter Cosgrove) to the Queen to confer this reward upon her husband was vehemently criticised by the Labor opposition leader, Bill Shorten, among others. However, various ministers and editorials supported his award of an honour.
Naval ranks and appointments
Commonwealth realms
Other Commonwealth countries
Foreign honours
Orders
Wear of orders, decorations, and medals
Awards worn regularly by Prince Philip are noted in the above tables and are worn in accordance with customary British conventions applicable to the occasion, the location and to the form of dress worn. Awards not specifically noted are worn by Prince Philip on appropriate occasions relating to the country that made the award, again in accordance with UK conventions. The current ribbons worn by Prince Philip are as follows:
Notes on wear