³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ

A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Cardinal Vincent Nichols

Good morning.

Today we mourn the death of His Royal Highness Prince Philip, a man of such vitality, determination and noble sense of duty. Who can forget the pageant on the River Thames marking the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee when he stood for hours in the rain at her side, not counting the cost? I recall also, at the Palace of Holyrood House, he stood alongside the Queen and the Pope, all three in their eighties, each committed to serving nation or church without regard for age or personal cost. A little time later, in an interview marking his ninetieth birthday, Prince Philip said that he would slow down and reduce his duties, stating that he had ‘done his bit’. Only much later did he in fact retire from public life.

This is how many of us will remember Prince Philip – always there beside his wife and sovereign, but active in his own right. This was the life he chose when he married her, knowing that she would one day be Queen. At the Coronation he was not crowned of course, but knelt before her with her hands enclosing his, and swore to be her ‘liege man of life and limb’. At the Diamond Jubilee the Queen referred to him as her ‘constant strength and guide’.

Lord, we thank you for the long life which you gave to your servant, Prince Philip, a life lived in loyalty and service to his Queen and to our country . As he now rests from his labours may he share in your peace and rise in glory.

Amen