When asked in a 2000 interview about his longevity, and with his long-lasting marriage to Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, the then-79-year-old Prince Philip the Duke of Edinburgh candidly admitted that he was not particularly excited about possibly living up to 100 years old and beyond. Last Friday, he morbidly got his wish as Philip, the longest-serving consort of a reigning British monarch and the longest-lived male family member of British Royalty, died two months before he would celebrate his 100th birthday. Even as tributes and condolences poured out through the UK and around the world, the now-widowed Queen Elizabeth has expressed her feeling of suffering the loss.

CNN reports that Queen Elizabeth II remarked that the death of her husband Prince Philip on April 9 left her with what she described as “a huge void in her life.” This sentiment was shared this past Sunday, April 11, by Prince Andrew the Duke of York, Elizabeth and Philip’s third child and second son. “I feel very sorry and supportive of my mother who is feeling it probably more than anybody else,” said Prince Andrew to members of the media, following a service at the Royal Lodge Windsor chapel.

Regarding his mother the Queen, the Duke of York remarked, “The Queen as you would expect is an incredibly stoic person. And she described his passing as a miracle. And she’s contemplating. She described it as having left a huge void in her life.” Andrew added that his father was a remarkable man, always calm and a person that any member of the Royal Family could approach with their problems. Speaking of the House of Windsor, the Prince said that the family was collectively feeling a great sense of loss. “We’ve lost almost the grandfather of the nation,” he notes.

In another public statement, Elizabeth and Philip’s firstborn, Charles the Prince of Wales, called his Papa the late Duke a very special person, and that he would have been amazed at how his passing has touched the UK and the world. Messages of condolences have come from other Royal houses and heads of state and governments, particularly from Greece and Denmark, where Philip had been born in Royalty before being naturalized as a British subject to marry then-Princess Elizabeth in 1947. Tributes in the UK and Commonwealth of Nations tend to comprise cannon salutes, honoring Philip’s military career and wartime service during World War II.

No details were given regarding the Duke of Edinburgh’s cause of death, only that he died peacefully in the morning of April 9. His body will remain in state at Windsor Castle until his funeral this coming Saturday, April 17.

Image courtesy of Forbes