Boris Johnson said the country will mourn with the Queen after the death of her husband Prince Philip was announced by Buckingham Palace today.
Speaking outside number 10 Downing Street, the Prime Minister spoke of the Duke of Edinburgh’s role as the longest serving consort in history, and his mention in dispatches for bravery during World War Two.
Prince Philip died aged 99 at Windsor Castle this morning.
Johnson said: “Prince Philip earned the affection of generations here in the United Kingdom, across the Commonwealth and around the world.
“Like the expert carriage driver that he was, he helped to steer the royal family and the monarchy so that it remains an institution indisputably vital to the balance and happiness of our national life.
“He was an environmentalist and a champion of the natural world long before it was fashionable.
“With his Duke of Edinburgh award scheme he shaped and inspired the lives of countless young people and at literally tens of thousands of events he fostered their hopes and encouraged their ambitions.
“We remember the duke for all of this and above all for his steadfast support for Her Majesty the Queen.
“Not just as her consort, by her side every day of her reign but as her husband, her strength and stay of more than seventy years.”
He ended the tribute by highlighting the grief of the royal family at this time.
He said: “And it is to Her Majesty and her family that our nations’ thoughts must turn today.
“Because they have lost not just a much loved and highly respected public figure but a devoted husband and a proud and loving father, grandfather and in recent years, great grandfather.
“Speaking on their golden wedding anniversary Her Majesty said that our county owed her husband a greater debt than he would ever claim or we shall ever know, and I am sure that estimate is correct.
“So we mourn today with Her Majesty the Queen. We offer our condolences to her and all her family.
“And we give thanks as a nation and kingdom for the extraordinary life and work of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.”
You can read all of SWL’s Prince Philip coverage here.
