And, no, we don't celebrate it in Canada.
We just recovered from celebrating Queen Victoria's birthday....well, we at least all took the day off. Other than that....we don't really care about Queen Victoria's birthday.
Prince Philip, in case you are wondering, is the Queen of England's husband. He is also her third cousin.
Ten years after they were married, he was declared Queen's Consort. I guess he pissed her off "royally" by having flings on the side, rumor has it, so she got even with him by not declaring him equal to her own title, ie. "King".
Although born in Greece, his family was kicked out of the country, and his family took up residence in England - (I guess because there was no more room in Denmark* for one more royal) - where he joined the Navy. He was 18 and Liz was 13 when they met. She fell hopelessly in love.
But then, what do 13-year-olds know?
When Phil married Liz, and she became queen, he had to give up his day job and change his own last name - he was not even allowed to have his children take his last name. His whole life has been spent several steps behind the queen.
I suppose the ongoing resentment from this might be part of his problem because:
He has never been known for his tact.
For instance, during the 1981 Recession, he stated: "Everybody was saying we must have more leisure. Now they are complaining they are unemployed".
Sounds a little like "Let them eat cake"** to me.
And, on an excursion to Canada in 1976, in response to someone asking him if he was enjoying the trip, Prince Philip said: ‘We don’t come here for our health. We can think of other ways of enjoying ourselves.’
Well, Happy Birthday to you too and congratulations on another successful trip around the sun.
At least with his advanced age, there is now perhaps an excuse for his missteps.
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*He is of Danish descent, and although born in Greece, doesn't speak the language.
**technically a misquote, as it is disputed Marie Antoinette actually said, or meant these actual words.
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