Prince Philip
Queen Elizabeth II Celebrates 70th Wedding Anniversary With Prince Philip YUI MOK/AFP/Getty Images

Prince Philip had the most heartbreaking reaction to the death of King George VI. Shortly after he learned about his father-in-law’s passing, the Duke of Edinburgh was the one who broke the sad news to his wife, Queen Elizabeth II.

On the India Hicks Podcast, Prince Philip’s cousin Lady Pamela Hicks recounted the time when Prince Philip and the Queen were in Kenya. While they were on their royal tour, King George VI passed away in London.

Prince Philip’s former equerry, Mike Parker, was one of the first people to learn about the late royal’s demise. According to Hicks, Parker quietly entered the room where the dad of four and Her Majesty were staying for fear that the Queen would hear him come in.

When the monarch didn’t, Parker immediately went to Prince Philip to share the devastating news with him. And the Duke of Edinburgh’s reaction was quite heartbreaking.

“Prince Philip is sitting, reading a newspaper, while the princess is in another part of the room, at the desk, writing to her father,” Hicks said. “Mike crawls in as he doesn’t want the princess to look up and see him so he’s crawling out of her sightline and gesturing to get hold of the radio. He secretly turns it very, very low and hears all the stations (playing) the same dirge-like music, being very solemn, so it’s obviously true,” she added.

The source went on to say that Prince Philip covered his face with the newspaper that he was reading in utter shock. Shortly after, the 98-year-old retired royal asked the Queen to take a walk with him at the park, and this was where he told his wife the news.

"As she comes into the room. I think ‘Oh, poor girl, her father has died.’ So, I go over to her, give her a hug and think ‘Oh my God, it’s the Queen,’ so I go into a deep curtsey. And she says ‘I’m so sorry. It means we’ve all got to go back.’ She was only thinking of all of us,” Hicks said.

The Queen and Prince Philip cut their trip to Kenya short. And they immediately returned to London to be with the Queen’s family.

Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, wear 3D glasses to watch a display and pilot a JCB digger. John Giles - WPA Pool/Getty Images

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