Almost a week has passed since the unfortunate death of the Duke of Edinburgh and nowadays all kinds of pictures and anecdotes of the husband of the Queen IsabelWith a life documented in detail over the years, it is not surprising that there is an extensive collection of images and portraits showing the evolution of a man dedicated to service. From the images showing a blonde baby in Greece, the little boy growing up in various boarding schools where he excelled in arts and sports, his impressive naval career, to his last years on active duty, of course without missing the most special. photos that report on his relationship with the Queen of more than seven decades. Of these images, one stands out, the last official portrait of the Duke painted at the time on the pretext that he commemorates his retirement from public life in 2017.
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At the time, a brave Prince Philip posed in the corridors of Windsor Castle, where he breathed his last. Australian artist Ralph Heimans was able to capture each of the Duke’s signature stamps, and after Philip’s death, shared some details about his various encounters with the Prince. For this portrait, it was decided that the main hall would be the best place in the private rooms he shared with the Queen.
On his website, the Australian went into details of where the duke had decided to pose. While it might be thought that this was an ordinary hallway or that it was chosen for an aesthetic aspect, the reality is that this point of the dwelling had special significance to the Duke. As revealed by the artist, both Felipe’s mother and grandmother were born in a room at the end of the hall known as the Tapestry Room
Another curiosity that can be seen in this portrait in which nothing was left to chance is the painting on the wall next to him known as The Family of Queen Victoria, painted in 1887 by Tuxen, in which you can see Princess Alice – Felipe’s mother – and her grandmother, Princess Victoria, in the company of Queen Victoria, sitting in the Green Drawing Room – the same setting as the official portrait of Harry and Meghan’s wedding.
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In an interview with the podcast of Sky News Daily, the artist told how they spent the fun hours of posing, in which the prince remembered his own work for the easel. The Duke is known to have loved painting over the years and it was not uncommon in his time on the high seas for him to place his canvas on the deck of the Britannia to paint the sea and landscape. “His posing was actually a lot of fun. As you can imagine, it was full of humor, but beneath that was the sense of seriousness of the portrait. And I think he was very involved in the process; he really enjoyed it and was very talkative afterwards, so it was a really enjoyable experience and an extraordinary privilege, ”said Heimans.
How the Duke was related to Queen Victoria
Despite being born in Greece, Felipe’s blood was British, German and Danish – something also documented in the portrait by the Order of the Elephant donated to him by that royal house. The prince was linked to Queen Victoria through his mother, who was the great-granddaughter of the mythical monarch. Princess Alice, the Duke’s mother, was named in honor of her grandmother, daughter of Queen Victoria, so it is not uncommon for the Prince’s mother and grandmother to be born at Windsor Castle.
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