His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

Lord Loomba Excerpts

Monday 12th April 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Loomba (CB) [V]]

My Lords, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh was an extraordinary and remarkable man. His support and dedication to the Queen as a husband and consort for over seven decades will not be matched. His presence, calm nature, patience when listening and appetite for a jovial sense of humour will be missed. In one of her speeches, Her Majesty the Queen said about her husband:

“He is someone who doesn’t take easily to compliments but he has, quite simply, been my strength and stay all these years, and I, and his whole family, and this and many other countries, owe him a debt greater than he would ever claim, or we shall ever know.”


Listening to the tributes paid by His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales and his siblings, as well as Andrew Marr’s interviews yesterday with Sir John Major and Joanna Lumley, I believe in every word that Her Majesty the Queen said in her speech about her beloved husband.

The Princess Royal has said that she would like to walk in the footsteps of her father, who always thought of helping others. Through the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, he helped more than a million youths in over 100 countries succeed in their lives. I am proud to say that my daughter and two granddaughters are recipients of this award.

I had the good fortune and honour of meeting him at a London First event many years ago. He asked me, “What do you do?”; I replied that I was a businessman but also ran my own charity, which supported widows and their children around the world. Then I mentioned that there are over 258 million widows around the world. His quick and spontaneous response was, “Have you counted them all?” I saw his sense of humour first-hand. I was left with immense pleasure after that discussion and meeting with him. It will always stay with me.