I've been thinking about what I liked about the unique character who was the Duke of Edinburgh, the late consort of the Queen. People have different views of the monarchy, but at their best, the royals represent something larger than themselves. The Duke of Edinburgh was an old-fashioned character in some ways, but his life was dedicated to an enterprise in which he personally was never #1. And he did it with a sense of humor. Both those things are something younger people could learn from--and most of us are younger than 99.
Like the Queen, he's from the World War II generation; he served in the Royal Navy. What must it have been like to take on a different career, supporting his wife's unique role, for the rest of his life? What she called "his forthright manner" was not always appreciated, but you could always count on him being there, and not just supporting Her Majesty. The Duke of Edinburgh awards are not much known in America, where he was always called Prince Philip, but young people in over 140 countries have participated; he was also an early supporter of conservation, the Commonwealth, and interfaith dialogue, despite--or rather because of--what appears to have been a deep Christian faith of his own.
I will never forget that when his young grandsons had to attend their mother's funeral, it was their grandfather who said "I'll walk if you walk." There he was again, walking behind the casket, following a beloved woman.
In our time, one's own personal happiness is supposed to be the greatest good. We may sacrifice everything for this, but it is not at all clear that we thereby avoid misery. Certainly the Duke of Edinburgh seems to have enjoyed being himself.
When they celebrated their golden wedding anniversary, he said, "The main lesson that we've learnt is that tolerance is the main ingredient of any happy marriage. It may not be quite so important when things are going well, but it is absolutely vital when they get difficult. And you can take it from me that the Queen has the quality of tolerance in abundance."
We can learn from that too.
