How Prince Philip was related to Lord Mountbatten, the last viceroy of India
Lord Mountbatten was the maternal uncle of Prince Philip. They were both descendants of Queen Victoria, the famous 19th century British monarch.
Husband of Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip died on Friday. He was 99 and served as the consort of Queen Elizabeth II, the British monarch for 65 years. He had an India connection too. As a UK naval officer, Philip served in the Indian Ocean during World War II when India was under the British rule.
Another connection was through Louis Mountbatten, the last viceroy of India, and known more popularly as Lord Mountbatten in the country.
Lord Mountbatten was the maternal uncle of Philip. Both were descendants of Queen Victoria, the famous 19th century British monarch.
Lord Mountbatten was the great-grandson of Queen Victoria. His elder sister, Alice was the princess of Battenberg (Germany). Princess Alice was Philip's mother, making him the great-great grandson of Queen Victoria.
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His father was Andrew, a Greek prince.
In the post-World War-I, Greece faced coup d'état, and Prince Philip's family had to flee the country, to France.
PRINCE PHILIP AND MOUNTBATTEN
At the age of seven, Philip came to England and stayed with Lord Mountbatten's family. Around this time, his mother Princess Alice of Battenberg was diagnosed with schizophrenia and was placed at an asylum.
During this period, Lord Mountbatten took care of young Philip. They came close and developed life-long attachment.
Lord Mountbatten's father was German but had naturalised in Britain and served in the British military.
It was his father, who dropped "Battenberg" from his name in favour of a more anglicised version of it - Mountbatten. It was done to ward off anti-German sentiments prevailing at that time in Britain.
Prince Philip would later adopt this surname from his maternal uncle's family as his own as he settled down in Britain.
PHILIP MOUNTBATTEN AND ELIZABETH
Lord Mountbatten is said to have introduced Prince Philip Mountbatten to Princess Elizabeth at a family wedding in 1934. Later, when Prince Philip was a cadet at the Britannia Royal Naval College, Princess Elizabeth came to tour the college with King George VI.
Prince Philip was delegated to escort two princesses, Elizabeth and Margaret on the college tour.
Philip is said to have made a deep impression on Elizabeth. They finally married in November 1947, three months after Lord Mountbatten returned home after India became Independent.
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