Prince Philip, 99, Issues Rare Statement to Wish Educators Happy Holidays

Ashley Boucher
·2 min read

Royal Family/Twitter Prince Philip

Prince Philip issued a rare, post-retirement statement on Friday to wish the educators of one of his patronages happy holidays.

Shared on the Royal Family's Twitter account, the Duke of Edinburgh thanked teachers and staff of the Chartered College of Teaching for their work this year amid the ongoing novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

"I commend all teachers and school staff for your professional and resolute commitment throughout the past year to teaching our children and young people in the most challenging conditions," Philip's statement read.

"As Patron of the Chartered College of Teaching, I wish to thank you all for your selfless dedication and send you my best wishes for a well-deserved break over Christmas and the New Year," he concluded.

Royal Family/Twitter

RELATED: How Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip Are Spending Their 73rd Anniversary amid Lockdown

Philip and Queen Elizabeth celebrated 73 years of marriage last month, and the occasion was marked with well-wishes from their great-grandchildren Prince George, 7, Princess Charlotte, 5, and Prince Louis, 2. The children of Prince William and Kate Middleton made them a handmade card.

Ahead of the U.K.'s harsher lockdown that was implemented in early November, Philip and the Queen returned to Windsor Castle together after spending a weekend together at Sandringham. They had previously parted ways in October when Philip stayed at Wood Farm on her estate in Norfolk while the Queen went to Windsor Castle.

Antony Jones/Getty Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip

RELATED: Prince Philip Returns to Windsor Castle with Queen Elizabeth Ahead of New Lockdown in England

Windsor Castle is where the Queen and Philip spent the first lockdown in March, and where the Queen has carried out many of her royal duties via video conferencing and phone calls amid the ongoing pandemic. The couple stayed there until August before going to Balmoral Castle in Scotland and then Sandringham in September.

Since retiring from public life in 2017, Philip has mostly stayed at Sandringham while the Queen has continued her duties in London and Windsor.

  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next

Latest Stories

  • Why Elizabeth Hurley has given up on daytime heels

    As the model says she 'ruined' her feet, we look at how high heels affects our health.

  • Premature baby girl rescued from her dead mother's womb dies in Gaza after 5 days in an incubator

    A premature Palestinian infant, rescued from her mother's womb shortly after the woman was killed in an Israeli airstrike, has died, her uncle said Friday. Sabreen Jouda died in a Gaza hospital on Thursday after her health deteriorated and medical teams were unable to save her, said her uncle, Rami al-Sheikh. Sabreen's home in the southern Gaza city of Rafah was hit by an Israeli airstrike shortly before midnight Saturday.

  • Benny Blanco opens up about falling for Selena Gomez

    The songwriter and record producer has revealed he realised he had feelings for the Lose You to Love Me singer during a recording session. The pair had known each other as friends and collaborators for nearly a decade before they started dating in June last year. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal published on Thursday, Benny admitted he "was the last one to know" he was in love with Selena. "It's crazy how your partner could just be sitting there the whole time,…”

  • Nico Hulkenberg’s Sauber move could open door at Haas for Ollie Bearman

    The 18-year-old Briton is targeting a 2025 race seat after impressing as a Ferrari stand-in at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

  • Why are TikTokers suddenly obsessed with a 2001 Bollywood film?

    Social media content creators all over the world are using #AsokaMakeup hashtag to create intricate looks inspired by South Asian brides

  • Hot Docs’ European Program Explores Bodily Autonomy, Rise of Right-Wing, Labor Conditions in EU

    The seventh edition of The Changing Face of Europe, a section in Toronto’s Hot Docs Film Festival, explores the cultural, economic and political forces shaping contemporary Europe. From an investigation of a right-wing group in Fabien Greenberg and Bård Kjøge Rønning’s “Norwegian Democrazy” to the fight for bodily freedom in Elina Psykou’s “Stray Bodies,” this …

  • Scotland's First Minister Humza Yousaf cancels event as he fights for his political survival

    Scotland's First Minister Humza Yousaf has cancelled a speech he was due to give in Glasgow this lunchtime as he fights for his political life. The event at Strathclyde University, where the SNP leader was also due to take part in a question and answer session and take questions from the press, was scratched with just a few hours notice. The move will fuel speculation over his future, particularly after sources said Mr Yousaf would "come out fighting" after his former allies in government, the Scottish Greens, said they would join the other opposition parties in a vote of no confidence next week.

  • Mystery over 19-year-old’s last moments after his naked body was found on the road following four-day party

    Noah Presgrove had just graduated high school and planned to join the military when he died in September 2023

  • Satellite Imagery Shows Dust Blowing Across Border From Mexico

    Dust blowing north from Mexico into Texas and New Mexico could be seen in satellite imagery from Thursday, April 25, the National Weather Service (NWS) said.Timelapse Footage released by the NWS in El Paso tracks the dust. The service had warned of blowing dust due to high winds. Credit: NWS El Paso via Storyful

  • Alcon Inc. (VTX:ALC) is a favorite amongst institutional investors who own 64%

    Key Insights Significantly high institutional ownership implies Alcon's stock price is sensitive to their trading...

  • China's Bank of Communications Q1 profit rises 1.44%

    China's Bank of Communications Co Ltd (BoCom), reported a 1.44% rise in first-quarter net profit amid a slowing economy. BoCom, the first among five of the nation's biggest state banks reporting first-quarter results, booked a net profit of 24.99 billion yuan ($3.45 billion) in the three months ended March, up from 24.63 billion yuan in the same period last year, the bank said in a filing on Friday. China's lenders face shrinking profitability as they are urged to reduce interest rates on loans to help bolster flagging sectors as lending demand falls.

  • Crusaders beat Rebels for second win in 2024; boost Super Rugby playoff hopes

    The defending champion Crusaders fanned their faint playoff hopes in Super Rugby Pacific Friday with a six-try, 39-0 win over the fourth-placed Melbourne Rebels. The win was only the Crusaders’ second in nine games this season but temporarily bounced them off the bottom of the championship ladder and brightened their chances of reaching the quarterfinals with five matches remaining. The Christchurch-based Crusaders fielded the biggest pack they could find and crushed the Rebels’ scrum, winning penalties and territory through the first 30 minutes.

  • Is a mini-heatwave heading for the UK? Met Office issues verdict

    Can we expect some decent weather early next month? Or will it be more wind and rain?

  • London travel news LIVE: Tube stations shut amid new strike as two lines delayed after 'casualty on tracks'

    Several London Underground stations are closed due to workers striking while two Tube lines were halted because of a casualty on the track. Transport for London marked six stations on the network at 10am on Friday due to the Transport Salaried Staffs' Association action. The union said the action was likely to cause Tube stations to close at the last minute, including into Saturday morning, but Transport for London said there will not be significant disruption.

  • Mum had re-use sanitary towels and brush teeth with water after falling into debt

    A divorced mum-of-two reveals the 'dark times' she suffered after falling into hygiene poverty that left her feeling ashamed and embarrassed. Caroline Gandy-Brown, 54, spiralled into debt after a divorce and found herself having to sacrifice her own hygiene for the sake of the children. She laid bare the reality of hygiene poverty as new figures show single adults need an annual income of £31,536 to afford essentials - almost £2,000 more than the average £29,669 salary. Caroline would clean her teeth with the same old toothbrush for a year, sometimes with just water, so her kids wouldn't run out of toothpaste and when on her period she would reuse sanitary towels with toilet paper stuffed in them. She admitted: "I thought I had totally failed as a mum. "You do feel that you are absolutely an utter failure when you can't provide for your own family. With the average salary at £29,669, the latest research, commissioned by hygiene and health company Essity, in partnership with, Unilever, Haleon, Kimberly Clark and Edgewell, shows that one in four people are struggling to afford essentials including hygiene products. They have launched an in-store promotion in Tesco stores where customers buy two products and a hygiene product will be donated to charity In Kind Direct.

  • Sweden refuses to use VAR amid fan revolt

    Sweden has become the first country to refuse to use Video Assistant Referees following a fan revolt against its introduction.

  • VAR is doomed because fans will never truly trust its technology

    Now and again, too rarely, you get a sense of your life slipping away in real time. Usually this comes during hour two of a zonked-out doomscroll, realising you have consumed everything new across your preferred social networks with nothing to show for it beyond a jangly, hollowed-out feeling. You can achieve a similar effect with prolonged exposure to the VAR discourse.

  • UPDATE 1-European shares on track for weekly gains; Thyssenkrupp glows

    European shares rose on Friday and looked set to end the week higher as investors cheered robust results from tech giants in the United States, while Thyssenkrupp was on course for its best day in 23 months on a divesture announcement. The pan-European STOXX 600 index started the session with a 0.6% increase by 0845 GMT. The technology sector drove most of the gains on the top index as investors took comfort from upbeat quarterly results from U.S. technology giants Microsoft and Alphabet.

  • Reading terror attack families ‘trust’ judge to give answers

    The father of one of the Reading terror attack victims said the families are trusting the judge to make recommendations at the inquest conclusion that will “prevent other families from facing the pain, heartbreak and loss that we must live with every day”. Speaking outside of the Old Bailey on Friday morning, Gary Furlong, the father of James, said: “It is now almost four years since our boys, James, Joseph and David were taken from us in the murderous terror attack by Khairi Saadallah in Forbury Gardens. We waited patiently while the criminal trial and appeal by Saadallah ran their course. We have listened to six weeks of evidence at the inquest into our boys’ death.".

  • US-China relations at risk of ‘downward spiral’, Blinken warned

    US-China relations are at risk of taking a “downward spiral”, Antony Blinken was warned during his trip to Beijing on Friday.