# Prince Philip obviously is not of Greek origin - he is a Highlander **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 20, 2019, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-philip-obviously-is-not-of-greek-origin-he-is-a-highlander/828126 "2019-01-20T22:15:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2019, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-philip-obviously-is-not-of-greek-origin-he-is-a-highlander/828126/21 "2019-01-21T09:57:43Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > Do they handle translating straight up? Whole article is in MPH and uses yards, etc. The UK still uses imperial for road distances and speeds. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2019, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-philip-obviously-is-not-of-greek-origin-he-is-a-highlander/828126/22 "2019-01-21T12:19:15Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > Yeah, and the person he crashed into is [not happy](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/jan/20/prince-philip-has-not-said-sorry-for-car-crash-injured-woman-claims) > [@](#): > > She said she had only had a cryptic message passed on via a police family liaison officer, which said: “The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh would like to be remembered to you.” No doubt a person of good breeding would have recognized that as a heartfelt apology. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2019, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-philip-obviously-is-not-of-greek-origin-he-is-a-highlander/828126/23 "2019-01-21T12:30:41Z")
He should have his car keys taken away, period. It should be done as an example for other families afraid to deal with infirm elderly relatives who insist on driving when they are a menace to everyone on and off the road. We had one of those killer grandpas driving down the jogging path in Lincoln Park once, for god’s sake. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2019, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-philip-obviously-is-not-of-greek-origin-he-is-a-highlander/828126/24 "2019-01-21T12:41:02Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > Yeah, and the person he crashed into is [not happy](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/jan/20/prince-philip-has-not-said-sorry-for-car-crash-injured-woman-claims) I fear that the woman has made a very bad mistake in going public. She’s going to go through the whole fifteen minutes of fame from sympathy to being devoured alive. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2019, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-philip-obviously-is-not-of-greek-origin-he-is-a-highlander/828126/25 "2019-01-21T12:45:36Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > No doubt a person of good breeding would have recognized that as a heartfelt apology. Positively loaded with sincere emotion. “I say! Fairweather - remember that time when I ran you off the road and put you in hospital? Oh well of course you do - it was only your wrist you broke, not your head. All hunky-dory then! Time for a quick tot of gin before bed, what?” ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2019, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-philip-obviously-is-not-of-greek-origin-he-is-a-highlander/828126/26 "2019-01-21T14:07:35Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > No doubt a person of good breeding would have recognized that as a heartfelt apology. And she should have been appreciative of it. In the U.S. get shot in the face by V.P. Cheney and you the victim are expected to apologize to His Disgrace. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2019, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-philip-obviously-is-not-of-greek-origin-he-is-a-highlander/828126/27 "2019-01-21T14:29:43Z")
Note that the Greek royal family was “adopted” by Greece after independence. None of them had any recent Greek blood in them. His family fled Greece when he was a year old. Philip is almost completely of German [extraction](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Philip,_Duke_of_Edinburgh#Ancestry) with a little bit of English and borderline Danish in him. OTOH, he is the longest-lived, living great-great-grandchild of Queen Victoria. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-philip-obviously-is-not-of-greek-origin-he-is-a-highlander/828126/28 "2019-01-22T00:08:11Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Do they still let him fly airplanes at that age? > > Should probably let the Queen drive. If I recall, being Queen she doesn’t need a license? Hmm… wonder how you keep a monarch off the road in England? Correct; Her Majesty doesn’t need a license to drive (presumably she got one before the became Queen, but it’s long since expired). Also as the Fount of Justice if hypothetically Prince Phillip were to be charged with an offence the prosecution against him would proceed in his wife’s name just like when Princess Anne was up before the magistrate for not keeping her dogs under control. > [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > He should have his car keys taken away, period. It should be done as an example for other families afraid to deal with infirm elderly relatives who insist on driving when they are a menace to everyone on and off the road. We had one of those killer grandpas driving down the jogging path in Lincoln Park once, for god’s sake. To get my grandfather to stop driving my father had to take his car to the shop “for repairs”; after a few months we sold the car off and eventually instead of taking him to renew his license when it expired he got a non-diver’s photo ID instead. > [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > I fear that the woman has made a very bad mistake in going public. She’s going to go through the whole fifteen minutes of fame from sympathy to being devoured alive. Well if she were American we’d be talking lawsuit and out of court settlement. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-philip-obviously-is-not-of-greek-origin-he-is-a-highlander/828126/29 "2019-01-22T00:19:24Z")
He’s one of those tough old coots that just won’t go away that easy. > [@Broomstick](#): > > Do they still let him fly airplanes at that age? His bios say he quit piloting in 1997. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-philip-obviously-is-not-of-greek-origin-he-is-a-highlander/828126/30 "2019-01-22T01:22:40Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > OTOH, he is the longest-lived, living great-great-grandchild of Queen Victoria. That’s an interestingly specific qualification in the middle there. Who’s the longest-lived **no longer** living great-great-grandchild of QV, and how long does Phil have to hang on to beat them? ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-philip-obviously-is-not-of-greek-origin-he-is-a-highlander/828126/31 "2019-01-22T01:53:35Z")
Assuming [this page](http://www.spanglefish.com/webbyswonderfulworld/index.asp?pageid=415802) is correct, he’s the longest-lived great-great-grandchild, living or dead, and he only has three months to go to become the longest-lived descendant of any degree. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-philip-obviously-is-not-of-greek-origin-he-is-a-highlander/828126/32 "2019-01-22T03:23:09Z")
Cool site! I see Queen Liz herself is hot(ish) on his heels too ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-philip-obviously-is-not-of-greek-origin-he-is-a-highlander/828126/33 "2019-01-22T07:20:07Z")
It took fifty pounds if explosives to kill his uncle. And even then Lord Mountbatten didn’t die instantly. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-philip-obviously-is-not-of-greek-origin-he-is-a-highlander/828126.md?page=1)