His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

Felicity Buchan Excerpts

Monday 12th April 2021 Commons Chamber

[Felicity Buchan (Kensington) (Con)]

On behalf of the residents of Kensington, I would like to pay the deepest tribute to His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, who gave a lifetime of service to our nation and to the Commonwealth. Prince Philip had a long association with my constituency of Kensington. As a boy, he spent time at Kensington Palace in the apartments of his maternal grandmother, who was the granddaughter of Queen Victoria.

Like his predecessor Prince Albert, Prince Philip was very much a man ahead of his time, and I want to focus briefly on three particular aspects: his passion for science and technology; his support for young people; and his advocacy for the environment and conservation.

Prince Philip had long and deep links with the Science Museum, first visiting in the 1960s. In 2014, he was elected a fellow of the Science Museum, a real accolade in appreciation of his sponsorship of science and technology. He was also very close to Imperial College, which lies partly in my constituency. Indeed, he was one of the first to receive a degree from Imperial when it attained its independence from the University of London. In 2007, he became an honorary doctor of science in recognition of his contribution.

As many colleagues have said, Prince Philip was a great supporter of young people. Rather than alluding to the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme, I want to mention an email I received at the weekend from a constituent who sent me photographs from the 1950s of Prince Philip visiting youth clubs and boys’ clubs in north Kensington and Notting Hill.

Finally, Prince Philip had a huge passion for conservation and the environment, to which the Natural History Museum in my constituency paid great tribute.

On behalf of all residents of Kensington, I want to say thank you to Prince Philip for everything he did for Kensington, for our nation and for the Commonwealth.