Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh- Champion of Youth

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh,  husband of Queen Elizabeth II, was the longest-serving royal consort in the history of the British monarchy. He was the consort of the British monarch from his wife’s accession on February 6, 1952, until his death in 2021. Born in Corfu to Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and Princess Alice of Battenberg, Prince Philip studied in France, Germany and Britain. Following his education, he joined the Royal Navy in 1939 where he saw active service during World War II, including the Battle of Crete (1941) and the Allied Invasion of Sicily (1943).

Prince Philip was awarded the Greek War Cross of Valour for his service. In 1947, he married Princess Elizabeth and was created the title Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Merioneth, and Baron Greenwich. Prince Philip’s naval career continued until the death of King George VI in 1952. From this time on, he supported his wife in her royal duties by undertaking extensive Commonwealth tours and State visits overseas.

During a state visit to Canada on October 22, 1969,  Prince Philip gave a speech to the Empire Club of Canada. Addressing the Empire, Canadian and Rotary Clubs, Prince Philip detailed the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme. At this time, the Scheme was not very well known in Canada for various reasons. The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme was a service launched to youth organizations in September of 1956 by a committee of which Prince Philip was chairman. It began as a Scheme for boys but within five years it was devised as a similar Scheme for girls until the two Schemes were eventually joined together.

According to Prince Philip, the Scheme grew fairly rapidly in its initial years but eventually levelled out. At the time of this speech, there were on average 56,000 new entries each year and the average total of people taking part in any one year was about 114,000 in Britain. In Canada, the Scheme has been operating since 1963 and is set up under a National Council. The Scheme also started in Australia and New Zealand in the same year.

“The concept of the Scheme is relatively simple,” said Prince Philip. The Scheme was designed to fill this gap between fourteen and full participation in the adult world. Based on academic education, the attitudes of young people, and the increasingly crowded conditions of life, the Scheme introduces young people to an immense variety of interesting activities and offers them leadership, recognition and encouragement.

“Each section is composed of a large number of alternative subjects each with its own syllabus and the standard to be reached. To gain an award, all that needs to be done is to select one subject, or group of subjects, in four out of five sections, follow each syllabus and then convince the assessors that you have reached the necessary standard of proficiency,” said Prince Philip.

Written by Mackenzie MacDonald.  Mackenzie is a third-year Master of Journalism student at Toronto Metropolitan University. Her research interests include social justice and human rights issues, on matters such as gender equality, Indigenous rights, criminal justice and more.