His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

Imran Ahmad Khan Excerpts

Monday 12th April 2021 Commons Chamber

[Imran Ahmad Khan (Wakefield) (Con)]

It is in grief that we assemble today. The death of His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh has reverberated through the heart of our nation. Together with all whom I have met in Wakefield and countless others from around the world, my thoughts and prayers remain with Her Majesty the Queen and the royal family. We not only mourn his death, but celebrate his extraordinary life and his great accomplishments. Prince Philip was a man who dedicated his life to serving his country and demonstrated a selfless commitment to his duties in peace and in war.

Muslims believe that the best way to serve God is by serving his creation. If we take this as a metric of measurement, Prince Philip’s life is an exemplar of merit, whether that be in serving his country and his family or tirelessly supporting communities and championing innovation, engineering and conservation.

The Duke of Edinburgh will long be celebrated for far more than his great service and duty. He possessed an insatiable intellectual curiosity and was able to stand toe to toe with some of the greatest minds of our age. Prince Philip’s intellectual prowess and range of interests were exceptional and have had an impact on people and communities across the world.

When Ayub Khan, the second President of Pakistan, visited the UK in 1960, Prince Philip, who always maintained an interest in the country as patron of the Pakistan Association, told him of a brilliant young Pakistani physicist at Imperial College London by the name of Abdus Salam and recommended that President Khan meet him. The Duke was deeply interested in science and invited Abdus Salam and his wife to the palace a number of times, well before Salam’s fame as the first Muslim Nobel laureate. Shortly after receiving this advice, Salam and Khan met and he was appointed by the President to direct the Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission in 1961. The Duke’s robust interest in the sciences and in the people of Pakistan played a key role in firmly establishing this important relationship.

Today, we mourn the death of Prince Philip, but let us always celebrate his life and service, both to Her Majesty the Queen and to the entire Commonwealth. His life serves as a shining example that I pray will continue to inspire people for generations to come, regardless of their age, their background or their beliefs. God save the Queen.