1. The Duke of Edinburgh was born at the villa 'Mon Repos', the summer retreat of the Greek royal family, on the island of Corfu, on 10th June 1921.

2. The Duke is the youngest child and only son of Prince Andrew of Greece and Princess Alice (of Battenberg). His grandfather was a Prince of Denmark who became King of Greece. The Duke is also related to Kings of Prussia and Emperors of Russia. The Duke renounced his Greek royal title in 1947 and became a naturalised British subject following his service in the Royal Navy.

3. The Duke of Edinburgh and The Queen are both great-great-grandchildren of Queen Victoria. The Duke is a direct descendant of Princess Alice, the third child of Queen Victoria. The Queen is a direct descendant of Queen Victoria's eldest son, Prince Albert Edward (later King Edward VII).

4. The Duke was on active service in the Royal Navy throughout the Second World War. The Duke's first naval appointment, aged 18, was as a midshipman to HMS RAMILLIES, which escorted the first contingents of the Allied Expeditionary Force from Australia to Egypt.

5. The Duke of Edinburgh was mentioned in dispatches for his service in the Second World War. His Royal Highness joined HMS VALIANT in the Mediterranean Fleet and was involved in engagements including, on 21st March 1941, the battle of Matapan (in Greek waters) against the Italian fleet. For his work in control of the searchlights Prince Philip was mentioned in despatches. He was later awarded the Greek War Cross of Valour. 6. Towards the end of the Second World War Prince Philip served in the destroyer HMS WHELP in the Pacific, and was present in Tokyo Bay for the Japanese surrender on 2nd September 1945.

7. From July 1951 The Duke of Edinburgh took up no more active naval appointments owing to Princess Elizabeth's increased Royal responsibilities. He was promoted to Admiral of the Fleet on 15th January 1953. His other British service appointments are Field Marshal of the Army and Marshal of the Royal Air Force. His Royal Highness holds 42 Service appointments in total, including Commonwealth Services, and he has presented 49 Colours.

8. As well as the title Duke of Edinburgh His Royal Highness has the titles Earl of Merioneth and Baron Greenwich. All three titles were conferred by King George VI in 1947. The Queen created her husband a Prince of the United Kingdom in 1957. 9. As husband of the Sovereign, The Duke of Edinburgh was not crowned or anointed at the Coronation ceremony in 1953.

10. The Duke learned to fly all types of aircraft. He gained his RAF wings in 1953, his helicopter wings in 1956 and his private pilot's licence in 1959. Prince Philip achieved 5,986 hours in 59 types of aircraft. The Duke's final flight was on 11th August 1997 from Carlisle to Islay, following which he has stopped flying.

11. The Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme and International Award were founded by the Duke to introduce young people to new experiences, including physical, skills-based and community challenges. Since 1956 more than four million young people from over 90 countries have taken part.

12. The Duke of Edinburgh is a prolific writer on environmental, technological, equestrian and animal subjects. His books include: Selected Speeches 1948-1955 (1957); Birds from Britannia (1962); Down to Earth (1988); and Survival or Extinction: A Christian Attitude to the Environment (1989). Down to Earth is even available in Japanese.

13. Prince Philip has accompanied The Queen on all 251 of her official overseas visits. The first of these was the Coronation tour of the Commonwealth from November 1953 to May 1954, when they visited countries in the Caribbean, Australasia, Ceylon, Africa and Europe, travelling a distance of 43,618 miles.

14. The Duke of Edinburgh undertakes many Royal duties. To date His Royal Highness has fulfilled over 18,567 official engagements excluding those accompanying The Queen, an average of 371 each year. In 2001 he undertook 363 solo engagements in the UK and abroad.

15. Although he is a Privy Counsellor, the Duke has no other constitutional role. Until 1999, Prince Philip was a member of the House of Lords but never spoke there owing to his proximity to The Queen, who remains politically neutral.

16. The Duke of Edinburgh takes a hands-on approach to the organisations which he represents. He has chaired over 1,454 meetings.

17. Science and technology are a major interest. Prince Philip has been Patron of the Industrial Society since 1952 and has visited research stations, laboratories, and every kind of workplace throughout Britain. In 1976 he initiated the Fellowship of Engineering, now the Royal Academy of Engineering, which promotes engineering excellence and education.

18. The Duke of Edinburgh is only the fifth consort to a reigning queen in British history. Of his predecessors, Philip II of Spain was husband to Mary I. William III was co-Sovereign with Mary II (although she, as daughter of James II, was nearer to the throne). The husband of Queen Anne was not given the title of King, but remained Prince George of Denmark. Prince Albert was created Prince Consort by Queen Victoria in 1857.

19. Care of the environment has long been one of The Duke of Edinburgh's greatest interests. The Duke was the first President of the World Wildlife Fund-UK from its foundation in 1961 to 1982, was International President of WWF (now World Wide Fund for Nature) from 1981 to 1996, and is now President Emeritus. He has visited WWF projects in over 40 countries on five continents.

20. The Duke of Edinburgh's official livery colour is dark green, known as 'Edinburgh Green'. It has been used for staff liveries - the Duke of Edinburgh's page at the Coronation wore dark green and silver - and private cars.

21. Naval history is a keen interest. His Royal Highness was appointed a Trustee of the National Maritime Museum in 1948. He was instrumental in saving the tea clipper Cutty Sark - now a museum ship stationed in Greenwich - and in establishing the Maritime Trust.

22. The Duke of Edinburgh played a key role in the restoration of Windsor Castle after the great fire of 1992. He served as Chairman of the general Restoration Committee, one of the two committees supervising the rebuilding of the damaged rooms.

23. The Duke of Edinburgh was the first member of the Royal Family to be interviewed on television, in May 1961. The Duke has also presented television programmes, including in May 1957 a programme on the BBC about his four and a half month tour of the Commonwealth.

24. Prince Philip has taken an interest in the ordinary, unsung aspects of life, including bricks and mortar. Prince Philip served as President of the National Federation of Housing Associations in 1975-1980, and chaired the Inquiry into British Housing, which published two reports in 1985 and 1991. The Duke of Edinburgh was chairman of the Westminster Abbey Restoration Committee from 1973 to 1997, responsible for the cleaning of the Abbey's exterior and the renovation of the building's interior.

25. The Duke has travelled widely without The Queen during his naval and public working lives. He has made two round-the-world voyages in the Royal Yacht BRITANNIA, visiting some of the remotest parts of the Commonwealth as The Queen's representative, travelling some 72,430 miles by BRITANNIA. The four-month voyage of 1956-57 included visits to the remote South Atlantic locations of the Falkland Islands, South Georgia, Tristan da Cunha, Ascension Island and St. Helena.

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