Prince Philip, husband of UK's Queen Elizabeth, dies at 99

London - The Prince was recently hospitalised and underwent a successful heart procedure.

Queen Elizabeth II's 99-year-old husband Prince Philip, who was recently hospitalised and underwent a successful heart procedure, died on Friday, Buckingham Palace announced.

"It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen announces the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh," it said in a statement.

"His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle."

"Further announcements will be made in due course.

"The Royal Family join with people around the world in mourning his loss."

Silent stalwart

He often grabbed headlines for his gaffes, but Prince Philip was portrayed by royalists as the silent stalwart, who shelved his personal ambitions to support Queen Elizabeth II over seven decades.

Born into the Greek royal family -- although he preferred to be thought of as a Danish prince -- the Duke of Edinburgh never wore a crown himself.

Yet he was a permanent public presence at the queen's side, who called him her "strength and stay".

Like her, his life was ruled by duty and tradition, putting his considerable energy behind numerous charities and carrying out 22,219 solo public engagements since Elizabeth rose to the throne in 1952.

But Philip regularly got into hot water for what were politely referred to as "politically incorrect" off-the-cuff remarks -- quips that from anyone else would be seen as downright racist.

"You managed not to get eaten, then?" he remarked to a British student who had trekked in Papua New Guinea in 1998.

And on a historic state visit to China in 1986, the self-described "cantankerous old sod" warned a group of British students: "If you stay here much longer, you'll all be slitty-eyed."

There was also his reputation as a womaniser, something that worried the royal family even before he and queen married.

They reportedly found the young naval officer "rough, ill-mannered and uneducated" and worried he "would probably not be faithful".

The man the queen's formidable mother privately referred to as "The Hun" because of his German Battenberg blood, was quickly suspected of a string of affairs, which would later be resurrected in the hit Netflix series "The Crown".

But Philip laughed off talk of philandering - with Sarah, the Duchess of York's mother often cited as one of his former lovers.

"For the last 40 years I have never moved anywhere without a policeman accompanying me. So how the hell could I get away with anything like that?" he said.

Tough father

At home, the duke had a reputation for being cold towards his four children, Charles, Anne, Andrew and Edward.

But many observers considered Philip to be the glue that held together the royal family.

And in a rarely seen softer side, it emerged the late princess Diana addressed him as "Dearest Pa" in letters in which he offered solace over her deteriorating marriage to his eldest son Charles.

Trial and error

Philip, the world's longest serving consort, was blessed with robust health for much of his long life, and conducted his final official appearance in August 2017 at the age of 96.

But he was admitted to hospital with various complaints as he advanced into his 90s, most recently for a heart procedure.

In January 2019, at the age of 97 and still driving, he was involved in a car accident near the royal estate of Sandringham in eastern England.

His Land Rover Freelander overturned and two other motorists were injured.

Prosecutors decided not to press charges after the prince, who walked away unscathed, voluntarily surrendered his driving licence.

The accident saw him withdraw from public life and he spent much of 2020 in isolation with the queen at their Windsor Castle home west of London, shielding from the coronavirus pandemic.

But he made several appearances, including at the wedding ceremony of his granddaughter Princess Beatrice in July, four months before celebrating his own 73rd wedding anniversary.

He also attended a military ceremony at Windsor in July when he handed over his ceremonial military role as Colonel-in-Chief of The Rifles regiment to his daughter-in-law Camilla, wife of Prince Charles.

Never one to talk about his own feelings, the prince admitted in a rare 2011 interview that he had carved out his own role in the royal family by "trial and error".

Asked if he had been successful, he told the BBC in his typical forthright manner: "I couldn't care less. Who cares what I think about it? I mean it's ridiculous."

But the queen has been more forthcoming about his worth.

"He has, quite simply, been my strength and stay all these years," she said in a speech to mark their golden wedding anniversary in 1997.

Exile from Greece

Prince Philippos of Greece and Denmark was born on a kitchen table on Corfu on June 10, 1921, the only son of prince Andrew of Greece -- the younger brother of Greece's king Constantine -- and princess Alice of Battenberg.