Rest in peace Prince Philip

Photo: wikimedia commons

Rest in peace Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

In 2002, while serving with the Canadian Scottish Regiment, I was fortunate to be able to be a part of the official Standard Party for her Majesty's golden jubilee visit to Canada. Our job was to lower the Canadian flag and raise the Royal Standard at every venue she attended, and to stand guard at the foot of the flagpole while the Standard was raised. There were several teams of soldiers from several regiments that would hopscotch the venues so that the Standard at one venue would go down as the Queen left, and the Standard at the next venue would go up as soon as she arrived. I attended BC Government House, the Legislature, the Empress Hotel, and GM Place for the Canucks hockey game where the Queen dropped the puck. I only raised the Standard at the Empress, but attended the other places.

At the Empress I was one of two soldiers, accompanied by a Captain who was our team leader. The Queen had just come from the legislature and was attending a luncheon at the Empress. Before (or after, I can't remember this detail) the lunch, the Queen and Prince Philip had a short break in a room on the same floor of the hotel as the balcony where the flags were mounted. Our Captain decided that we would take shifts guarding the Standard on the balcony so that one of us would be inside the hallway when the Queen and Prince Philip arrived, and the other when they left.

I stood there at attention as the Queen's security detail entered the hallway, butts of their submachine guns protruding slightly from their suit coats. Then, around the corner came the queen and Prince Philip. My Captain saluted his best salute. The Queen smiled at us, and Prince Philip smiled, looked us up and down in our full Scottish dress uniforms, Kilts and all and said, "Are you going to serenade us?" The Captain, caught off guard replied, "Er... we'd like to, Sir." I can only assume that we looked like members of a pipe band.

What I remember being struck by on the visit was the height of Prince Philip at six foot and the Queen at 5'3". Prince Philip towered over her, and yet she was the representation of power personified. Here was the person to whom I had sworn an oath when I became a soldier - to the Queen, her heirs and successors. An unforgettable experience for a 21 year old.

As I'm sure world leaders will be offering their condolences today to her Majesty, I will be remembering this brief encounter with the Queen, and Prince Philip, who served his adoptive nation faithfully for 14 years through WWII in the Royal Navy, and who was by her Majesty's side through 74 years of marriage.

Rest in peace Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

K. James Littley, Captain (Retired)