Prince Charles Misses His "Dear Papa", Late Prince Philip, "Enormously" | They Had a Complicated Father-Son Relationship

Queen Elizabeth II's husband was the longest-serving royal consort in British history. Prince Philip was by the Queen's side for 73 years before passing away at age 99 on April 9, 2021. Their eldest son shared a touching tribute in honor of his father. Prince Charles spoke about the personal pain of losing his father as well as the Duke of Edinburgh's lifetime of service. "I particularly wanted to say that my father, for I suppose the last 70 years, has given the most remarkable, devoted service to The Queen, to my family and to the country, but also to the whole of the Commonwealth," the Prince of Wales, 72, said, according to PEOPLE.

Prince Philip died on a significant day for the royal family: the 16th anniversary of Charles's wedding to Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall. But the pair did not post anything on social media regarding their anniversary and instead focussed on paying their respects to the late Prince Philip. "My dear Papa was a very special person who I think above all else would have been amazed by the reaction and the touching things that have been said about him and from that point of view we are, my family, deeply grateful for all that," he continued in the video message. "It will sustain us in this particular loss and at this particularly sad time. Thank you."

Prince Philip and the Queen had four children: their first son, the Prince of Wales, Prince Charles, was born in 1948, followed by his sister, the Princess Royal, Princess Anne, in 1950. Then came the Duke of York, Prince Andrew, in 1960 and the Earl of Wessex, Prince Edward, in 1964. The royal pair had eight grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren. According to ITV, Former Press Secretary to the Queen, Dickie Arbiter, said the Queen and Prince Philip "were always good parents" but that Royal duties often had to come first.

"They were always good parents, as much as they were allowed to be, but duty was expected of them. They were expected to be away representing the Queen, representing the UK so they didn't lead the sort of lives that we lead when it comes to families... the work comes first," Arbiter added. Charles particularly had a complicated relationship with his father. Prince Philip enrolled his son in the same boarding school he had gone to. While Philip thrived there as a teen, Charles had a very different personality from his father's and the results of their experiences were not the same. Royal Biographer Penny Junor told ITV News, "Charles desperately, desperately wanted to please his father, desperately wanted to do the right thing and to get his admiration and his praise. And the Duke was a particular sort of man, he was an alpha-male, he wanted a son in his own image."

"And Charles was just never that child, and there were many occasions, I am told, that his father did reduce Charles to tears. Their interests were very similar, they were both artists, they were both fascinated by wildlife, the Navy and young people. The Prince of Wales had his Prince’s Trust and the Duke of Edinburgh has his Duke of Edinburgh award scheme, they were so similar in some ways." Over the years the two began bonding over their love for the great outdoors.

However, one time their relationship did feel a bit strained was when the Prince of Wales began dating Diana. At the time, the Duke of Edinburgh wrote to Charles to urge him to either propose or end the relationship. Junor said, "He received it either as an ultimatum. He wanted to please his father and he wanted to do what he was told. He thought his father was telling him to marry Diana. His father was actually saying ‘make your mind up by having Diana on your arm or you are in danger of damaging her reputation, either let her go or ask her to marry you.’"

While their marriage began to show signs of falling apart, Philip tried his best to keep the family together, writing to both of the royals. Later when the marriage did break down, Arbiter said, "You tend to blame everybody else and you probably kick the traces of your parents because you’re in something you don’t want to be in anymore and it’s your parents fault and it’s a bit of a falling out." But later things between Charles and his father began to get better.

"Camilla has helped him and has helped to bridge a gap," Junor said, before adding, "Because she really knows how to get on with people, she knows about family." Arbiter continued, "He does adore his parents; he always has adored his parents and it was only in the latter years that they started getting closer. If you look at Charles in later life with the Duchess of Cornwall, he’s a completely different person."

References:

https://people.com/royals/prince-charles-pays-tribute-prince-philip-video-message/

https://www.itv.com/news/2021-04-10/prince-philip-an-insight-into-the-complicated-relationship-between-the-duke-of-edinburgh-and-his-son-prince-charles

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