Some of the Duke of Edinburgh’s most treasured possessions and important artifacts have gone on display at Windsor Castle today, in an exhibition to celebrate the late Prince Philip’s life and legacy.
The Duke had given his blessing for the exhibition, Prince Philip: A Celebration to be staged at Windsor Castle, as part of his 100th birthday celebrations. Following the Duke’s death in April at the age of 99, it was decided that the exhibition should go ahead as a celebration of his remarkable life. Palace sources say the exhibition has the full support and blessing of the Queen, who is now back at Windsor after meeting with Prime Minister Boris Johnson for the first time in eighteen months at Buckingham Palace earlier this week.
Today Windsor Castle was bustling with tourists on the first day of the exhibition, which has been curated by the Royal Collection Trust. It will run at Windsor Castle, which opened to visitors last month, and Holyrood House in Scotland until September.
There are more than 120 objects in the display which is located in St George’s Hall—the largest of the State Rooms at Windsor Castle—and the Lantern Lobby, which were both devastated by the 2002 fire at the castle. Prince Philip was involved in the restoration of the castle as Chair of the Restoration Committee and a section of the display shows a painting of the Prince amid the wreckage and the fragment of a burnt beam that the Duke salvaged from the roof of St George’s Hall.
The fire started in the private chapel when a hot spotlight caused a curtain to catch fire which quickly spread into the State Apartments. The Duke was involved in the building of a new chapel, just next to the exhibition in the Lantern Lobby where stained glass windows depict the great fire. It was here where he laid in rest following his death ahead of the burial at St George’s Chapel.
The exhibition is a tribute to many parts of the Duke’s life including his passion for invention and engineering. In 1956 he invited the architect Sir Hugh Casson to redesign his study at Buckingham Palace, incorporating contemporary furniture, a modern television set, a tape deck, turntable and radio, and automated curtains. The sketches of the office plans are on display along with the very first intercom that Philip installed at the palace and the maple wood desk he would work at. His calendar from the week of the Coronation in 1953 is also on display for the very first time.
Prince Philip’s role in The Queen’s Coronation of 1953 is celebrated with the display of the Coronation Robe and Coronet that he wore during the service alongside His Royal Highness’s Chair of Estate usually located in the throne room at Buckingham Palace. It is the first time the throne has ever been brought to Windsor.
“People can visit the castle and really find out a little bit more about him, about the man, about that long period supporting the Queen as consort and I hope people enjoy it,” curator Sally Goodsir told Vanity Fair.
Some of the most eye-catching pieces are the gifts Prince Philip was given on the many tours both solo and with the Queen that he carried out as consort to the monarch. A First Nations feather headdress presented to Philip during a Commonwealth visit to Canada in 1973 is displayed, alongside a pair of personalized cowboy boots from when he visited Texas. They are unworn.
Meanwhile a wine cooler in the shape of a giant grasshopper, presented by President Pompidou of France in 1972, stands proudly beneath one of the great windows in the hall. In another display cabinet is the steering wheel from the Lotus 79 driven to victory by Mario Andretti in the 1978 F1 World Championship, presented to His Royal Highness during a visit to Lotus Cars in 1979.
There is also a smaller exhibition at St George’s Chapel where Philip’s funeral took place on April 17th. As well as paintings of the Duke, the exhibition includes one of Philip’s very own oil paintings of Windsor Castle and the grounds of Home Park which hangs in the Lantern Lobby.
The artifacts have been collated by the Royal Collection Trust who worked closely with the Royal Household to locate and select the many items. All were in pristine condition with not so much as a scratch on them. Also on public display for the first time is a portrait of Prince Philip painted by Ralph Heimans in 2017, the year of His Royal Highness’s retirement from public engagements. The painting, which measures more than 2m wide and 1.6m high, is the final exhibit, and shows His Royal Highness standing in the Grand Corridor at Windsor Castle.
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