To begin with, HRH's present Coat of Arms is represented at the top of the post. Maybe, though, we should go back...
Prince Philip was born in 1921 on the island of Corfu. He was not a Prince of the United Kingdom, however, he was a Prince of Greece (and Denmark). His father was HRH Prince Andrew of Greece, son of HM King George I of the Hellenes. Prince Philip's paternal Great Grandfather was HM King Christian IX of Denmark as King George I had started out as Prince William of Denmark and was elected to be Head of State of Greece. As such, Prince Philip would then have been entitled to use the Greek Royal Coat of Arms, shown here. However, Prince Philip was born in the middle of the Greco-Turkish War which ended disastrously for the Greek Royal Family. Prince Andrew and his family fled the country (Prince Philip in a wooden fruit box) aboard the British vessel HMS Calypso. Philip came under the patronage of his maternal side of the family which, although of German origins, was firmly based in Britain. Prince Philip's mother was born Her Serene Highness Princess Alice of Battenberg and was a descendent of Queen Victoria through HM's daughter Princess Alice after whom Prince Philip's mother was presumably named. This connection became the stronger in Prince Philip's life. His Grandfather, Prince Louis of Battenberg, had dropped his German titles and had become the Marquess of Milford Haven at the insistence of HM King George V during the First World War. He had also anglicised his surname from Battenberg to Mountbatten and it was this surname, not his father's, that Prince Philip took when he moved into adult life.
Then the complications begin. After the Second World War it was becoming evident that Philip and HRH Princess Elizabeth, as she was then, were falling in love. Elizabeth went with her parents and sister on a Royal Tour of South Africa to "think things over". She decided to go ahead with Philip's proposal of marriage. Some people quote dates (J H and R V Pinches in The Royal Heraldry of England say 28th February 1947) and some people don't, but somewhere along the line, Prince Philip became a naturalised British citizen, no longer a Greek Royal, and took his mother's family name of Mountbatten. With his pedigree and descent, even as plain old Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten RN, but with his imminent marriage to the Heiress Presumptive to the British Throne, he was entitled to and in those days expected to take on a Coat of Arms. Presumably, around about this time, he began to use the following:
However, other strange anomalies (or, indeed, intensions) crop up when you observe the shield. Firstly, the shield of the Danish Royal Family in pretence over the Cross of Greece is the version borne by HM King Christian IX of Denmark from whom Prince Philip is descended. This might not be remarkable in itself. But take a look at the Coat of Arms of King Christian's son, King George I of the Hellenes, the first monarch of modern Greece. In 1863, when invited to become King of the Hellenes, George had decided to simplify the Danish shield; something Queen Margrethe II would also do a few generations later. This may seem strange, only there was a precedent in HRH Princess Marina who was Prince Philp's Greek First Cousin and who married HRH The Prince George, Duke of Kent. She, too, adopted the more complicated shield of King Christian IX...
Also, the Shield of Princess Alice, daughter of Queen Victoria, is not only shown in the Canton (the top left-hand corner) but in the top left Quarter which means that it is larger than normal and overlapping the Danish, and therefore Greek, Shield. This seems to emphasise Prince Philip's British heritage and is something which Earl Mountbatten had done himself.
The above Coat of Arms must have been before his marriage to Princess Elizabeth, maybe around 28th February 1947. It has the helmet of a Gentleman, a plain helmet pointing to the left. However, the day before the Wedding, so that Philip would be able to walk up the aisle with a British Order of Chivalry along with the Star of the Greek Order of the Redeemer, HM King George VI appointed his future son-in-law to the Order of the Garter, having appointed his daughter earlier in the year. This made Philip a knight and therefore Lt Sir Philip Mountbatten. On the same day His Majesty also appointed Philip His Royal Highness, specially and "by Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the Realm" [The London Gazette, Issue 38128, Page 5495, Publication Date: 21 November 1947]. The same publication stated that the King had created Philip a Royal Duke as of the morning of his marriage. (The fact that he was technically not Prince Philip would be a source of debate until The Queen rectified the situation in time for their 10th wedding anniversary in 1957.) All this too late for the Order of Service!
HRH Lt Sir Philip Mountbatten, Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Merioneth and Baron Greenwich in Greenwich KG's Coat of Arms became the following:
The heraldic situation didn't stop there, however. The now Duke of Edinburgh must somehow have taken a dislike to his Coat of Arms. Known as a pragmatist rather than a romantic, but also known as a bit of designer, even of jewellery, Philip helped design a new Coat of Arms which was granted in 1949 and shown at the top of the Blog. The Shield, shown here, simplifies all threads in his life with a Grant specific to him rather than a collection on a shield, and also incorporated a representation of his main title. The complicated Blazon was now simplified to Quarterly I Denmark, II Greece, III Mountbatten and IV Edinburgh. Only the Shield was changed and, whilst the design is definitely a less complicated affair making it clearer on things like banners which were becoming more frequently used as car flags, etc, it doesn't look entirely romantic. Maybe it is deliberately so to reflect the pragmatist in Prince Philip. |