Prince Philip - A Celebration - Exhibition at Windsor Castle

933305: Joseph Nuttgens, Stained Glass Windows for Private Chapel Windsor Castle, Design No.4. Royal Collection Trust / All Rights Reserved

The long life and legacy of HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Britain's, longest serving royal consort, is celebrated in an exhibition at Windsor Castle . Over 120 artifacts explore his support for youth, environment, industry and the arts.

A beautifully illustrated book,'Prince Philip 1921-2021:A Celebration' was also launched on 24th June.

Visiting Windsor Castle, I headed for St George's Chapel where the late Duke lies in the vaults. Installed as a Knight of the Garter in 1948, a laurel wreath now hangs over his Garter stall. In the south quire aisle, archive material highlights his development of St George's House, founded in 1966 with the Dean of Windsor, The Rt Rev Robin Woods. The study centre facilitates debate on socio economic, environmental and spiritual issues facing contemporary society .

The published Lectures and speeches from the Duke and participants are exhibited. He commented "... each individual must react according to his conscience in the knowledge that he is directly answerable for it to God,"

"Survival or Extinction. A Christian Attitude to the Environment," was co- authored by the Duke and Dean Michael Mann in 1989. Prince Philip wrote, "We are partners with all life on earth .....beneficiaries of God's gifts....it should remind us that God did not make us masters of his creation. He expects us to be its guardians."

The main exhibition is in the Castle's Lantern Lobby and St George's Hall, both restored after the fire of 1992 under Prince Philip's keen direction.

Photographs of his early years feature in the Lobby, built on the site of the destroyed Private Chapel . It's Gothic inspired vaulting is captured in a distinctive watercolour by Alexander Cresswell.

Prince Philip's remarkable mother, Princess Alice of Battenberg, was born at Windsor Castle. Queen Victoria was present and described in her diary the new baby as, "very pretty" . "I held it for a few moments in my arms", she wrote in her clear hand. A photograph shows a broadly smiling Queen seated beside her daughter, Princess Victoria, holding Alice.

Alice was profoundly deaf but highly intelligent and learnt to lip read in several languages. She married Prince Andrew of Greece in 1903. During World War 1 she accompanied her husband to the front line and nursed wounded soldiers.

Prince Philip was born in Corfu in 1921 and the City Council's Christening gift of a fine silver Cistern is on view.

During World War II, whilst Prince Philip was serving in the Royal Navy, his mother hid a Jewish family in her Athens home.

In 1949 she became a Greek Orthodox nun, emulating her saintly aunt, Grand Duchess Elizabeth, murdered in the Russian Revolution and canonised by the Russian Orthodox Church in 1981. Both are buried in the Orthodox church of St Mary Magdalene on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem.

Prince Philip had considerable input in the design of the new private chapel and its striking stained glass window commemorating the Castle fire, by Catholic artist Joseph Nuttgens. Beneath the Trinity is St George, a painting rescued and a firefighter.

The Duke championed creativity in industry and the arts throughout his life. Examples of his patronage of modern art and design include ceramics by Arthur Griffiths, and Maltese sculptor Vincent Apap's handsome bronze bust.

He was a gifted amateur painter but only one of his paintings, of Windsor Castle, is on show.

An eclectic selection of gifts from overseas trips and state visits include a Canadian First Nation tribal headdress and a chess set with indigenous figures presented by Nelson Mandela. Stunning jewellery designed by Prince Philip as anniversary gifts for the Queen are touching exhibits. His Coronation robe, coronet and Chair of Estate are focal points.

At the far end of St George's Hall a highlight is the vast canvas depicting the Duke standing in the Green Corridor alongside busts of his forebears. Painted in oils by Ralph Heimans in 2017, the year he retired, this fine portrait is publicly displayed for the first time. The Prince wears the red and blue Royal Windsor attire, with the decoration of Dengmark's Order of the Elephant. His great grandfather was Danish King, Christian 1X . On his right is a painting of Queen Victoria with his mother and grandmother. At the end of the corridor is the room where his mother and grandmother were born. Hands behind his back in a typical pose his alert gaze looks inquiringly at the onlooker; a remarkable man of whom the Queen had said that we all "owe him a debt greater than he would ever claim or we shall ever know."

Admission charge includes Castle visit -24 June - 20 September 2021

For visitor Information and tickets see: www.rct.uk

Prince Philip: 1921 - 2021 -A Celebration Published by Royal Collection Trust £14.95