Prince Philip was worried about Charles, Anne and Andrew's marriages and asked ex-archbishop to pray for them
Prince Philip often sought the help of Dr Joh Sentamu, former Archbishop of York to help with family problems. Sentamu, who referred to the Duke of Edinburgh as his 'sparring partner', himself confirmed this.
Dr Sentamu, according to a report in Express, said that the reason behind the successful relationship between Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth II was rooted in their faith. It was also revealed that the first time Philip spoke of faith with Sentamu was in the 1990s when the duke was deeply troubled about his children's struggle with their respective marriages. It must be noted that Prince Charles, Princess Anne and Prince Andrew have all divorced.
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The report quoted Dr Sentamu's interview with BBC where he said, "It was the ambassador’s dinner at Buckingham Palace and he really was feeling very, very sorry for some of the things that were happening in his family — particularly his sons." The former archbishop added, "He said, ‘You believe, don’t you?’ I said: ‘Yes’."
Dr Sentamu recalls that he was asked by Prince Philip, "What would you say to me about the trouble that is happening with all my family?" The priest added, "And I said, ‘well, your royal highness, you are a family like any other family, and every family goes through good times and bad times'." He also told, "'The important thing for me is that you should realize that if people are married they are not just a couple, there is a third, and that’s Jesus Christ, and they should begin to go to Jesus Christ.’ And then there was this pause and he said: "‘Of course. The Queen and I are so strong in our belief in Christ.’”
Dr Sentamu also revealed in the interview that Prince Philip had told him that, unfortunately, his children needed to be given that belief and asked: “Can you begin to pray for them?” He also said that because Philip “was so rooted in Christ, he didn’t have any problem in relating to people about their faith or people who didn’t believe at all." Dr Sentamu explained, "His faith was so strong, rooted in Christ, rooted in reality, rooted in his family, that actually he could be a free person. I have not met a couple that are so free. Her Majesty is exactly the same.”
He also said that he would feel 'energized' after his conversations with Prince Philip and noted that it was a pity people often saw him as simply someone who made gaffes. “Behind those gaffes was an expectation of a comeback but nobody came back and the gaffe unfortunately stayed." Dr Sentamu further explained, "He would make an off-color remark but if somebody challenged him you would enter into an amazing conversation. The trouble was that, because he was the Duke of Edinburgh, the husband of the Queen, people had this deference."
Recalling a conversation that Dr Sentamu had had with Prince Philip regarding race, he said that Philip had approached him after he had made a comment regarding racism and asked him, “Do you think that’s fair?” The conversation that took place after this informed Dr Sentamu about what Philip was really trying to achieve with the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. “It was in every country he had been to, and when he met young people — whether they were Black, whether they were White, whether they were Asian — actually it didn’t make the slightest bit of difference. All that mattered was that they were given the opportunity to get on in life.”