As we farewelled Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, whose funeral was held on 16 April, in Rotary we acknowledge his service to the community.
Prince Philip was an Honorary Member for four Rotary clubs: the Rotary Club of London; the Rotary Club of Edinburgh, Scotland, since 1952; and, the Rotary Clubs of Kings Lynn and Windsor & Eaton, in England.
Rotary has also been a long supporter of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, created by His Royal Highness to give young people the opportunity to learn, grow and engage in voluntary action.
Marius Hopley, District Governor 1090 (Thames Valley), said: “Many will be unaware that the Duke was a member of Rotary, and in particular, was a member of the Rotary Club of Windsor and Eton in this district. Until about five years ago, the Duke would attend meetings in ‘his’ club and refused to be treated differently to other Rotarians, including sitting at the President’s table.
“I was fortunate to meet Prince Philip when I was invited to the Rotary Club of London, where he was a guest speaker on the topic of conservation. He was witty, charming and reminded us all that he was a member, so he was effectively just a visiting Rotarian who happened to be the speaker.
“I am sure that I can express our sadness as a district at the loss of one of our members and, for those who like me hold Her Majesty The Queen in the highest regard, would add that our gratitude for his service to our country and support of Her Majesty will long be remembered.”
In 1984, the Duke of Edinburgh wrote a foreword to David Shelley Nicholl’s book “The Golden Wheel”. The following is a small extract:
“The sheer size of Rotary International in 1984 is impressive.
“Almost one million members in 158 countries are awesome statistics, but they really mean nothing at all unless the members are inspired by Rotary’s challenging philosophy, expressed by its splendidly simple motto ‘Service Above Self’.
(Acknowledgment of content goes to: https://www.rotarygbi.org/rotary-pays-tribute-to-the-duke-of-edinburgh/)