Queen Elizabeth II Pays Touching Tribute to Prince Philip, Her “Strength and Stay”

The world is mourning the loss of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who passed away at the age of 99 on April 9th, 2021.

The Royal Family has been sharing heartfelt messages of condolence and remembrance, and now Queen Elizabeth II has shared a touching tribute to her beloved husband.

On the Royal Family's social media pages, a portrait of the couple was shared along with a moving quote from the Queen.

The quote was taken from a speech she made celebrating their golden wedding anniversary in 1997, in which she looked back on their remarkable 50 years together.

In the quote, the Queen said, “He has, quite simply, been my strength and stay all these years, and I, and his whole family, and this and many other countries, owe him a debt greater than he would ever claim or we shall ever know.”

The portrait was first released on the day of Prince Philip's 95th birthday in 2016.

It was taken at Windsor Castle after Easter that year, and shows the couple wearing matching tones.

The Queen is seen wearing a pale pink cardigan with golden buttons over a pink and white striped blouse, while the Duke is wearing a pink shirt under a light brown jacket with a matching pink pocket square.

The Queen's warm words for her husband in 1997 came after he had praised her for her abundance of tolerance.

On their golden wedding anniversary, Prince Philip had said, “I think the main lesson that we have learnt is that tolerance is the one essential ingredient of any happy marriage.

It may not be quite so important when things are going well, but it is absolutely vital when the going gets difficult.

You can take it from me that the Queen has the quality of tolerance in abundance.”

A few minutes after the first post, the Palace continued to post a second one showing Prince Philip with the Queen at her coronation in 1953.

The post reads, “The Duke of Edinburgh swore to be Her Majesty's liege, man of life and limb.

The Duke was a devoted consort, companion to the Sovereign, for almost 70 years, from Her Majesty's accession in 1952 until his death.”

The Queen and Prince Philip's union was rooted in a wartime romance following an encounter at the Royal Navy College in Dartmouth in 1939, when the Queen was just 13.

In an ITV interview, Lady Pamela Hicks, Prince Philip's cousin, recalls the moment Elizabeth first met the dashing Duke.

“I think she fell in love with him from that day onward, and then of course when she blossomed into a very beautiful young woman with that dazzling complexion, so he fell too.

He of course really looked like a kind of Viking god, very tall, very blonde, marvellous looking, all the girls in England were in love with him.”

Their marriage lasted more than 70 years and was put down to their compatibility with shared interests and same duty for royal training.

On the Royal Family's official website, Prince Philip is described as having been a devoted consort, companion to the Sovereign, for over 60 years, from Her Majesty's accession in 1952 until his death.