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Who are Prince Philip's German 'blood' relatives? Prince Bernhard, Donatus and Philipp invited to attend funeral

The Duke of Edinburgh reportedly made it clear that 'he wanted his 'blood' family to be properly represented and included in his funeral arrangements'
UPDATED APR 16, 2021
Prince Philip at the Petty Officers Training Center (Getty Images)
Prince Philip at the Petty Officers Training Center (Getty Images)

Prince Philip’s sisters’ families will be attending his funeral service to be held on Saturday, April 17, as per reports. Royal biographer Robert Hardman, author of ‘Queen of the World’, said that two great-nephews and a cousin of the Duke of Edinburgh are self-isolating at the Berkshire home of a mutual friend ahead of the funeral.

They are Bernhard, Hereditary Prince of Baden, Prince Donatus, Landgrave of Hesse, and Prince Philipp of Hohenlohe-Langenburg. Hardman wrote in the Daily Mail that “they were all denied a place at his wedding, thanks to post-war nervousness at Buckingham Palace. But for the rest of his life, the Duke of Edinburgh was adamant that bygones should be bygones.”

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King George VI, Princess Margaret, Lady Mary Cambridge, Elizabeth, Philip, Queen Elizabeth (later Queen Mother), and Queen Mary (Getty Images)

He wrote that the Duke of Edinburgh “made it clear that he wanted his 'blood' family — the network of German nieces, nephews and cousins to whom he was devoted — to be properly represented and included in his funeral arrangements”. The German relatives were quietly invited to fly to the UK last weekend, in order to undergo quarantine procedures ahead of the service, Hardman said.

Who are Prince Philip’s German relatives?

Prince Philip was German through his mother’s side. Princess Alice of Battenberg, his mother, was a Hessian Princess. All four of Philip’s elder sisters married into German royal and aristocratic families after they had all moved there following the family’s exile from Greece. 

Phillipp Fuerst zu Hohenlohe-Langenburg (R) and Erbprinz Bernhard von Baden (L) attend the visit of Prince Charles, Prince of Wales at Schloss Langenburg in Langenburg, Germany (Getty Images)

His eldest sister, Princess Margarita, married Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg of Germany, a great-grandson of Queen Victoria, in 1931. Her grandson is Prince Philipp of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, one of the three German relatives who will attend Philip's funeral this weekend. “It really is an incredible honor and we are all extremely touched and privileged to be included on behalf of the wider family,” Prince Philipp, 51, said in a statement.

Prince Philipp, speaking to Hardman earlier, said: “It was such a joy having a conversation with [the Duke of Edinburgh]. His memory was extraordinary. He could remember playing hide-and-seek in the castle when he was a boy, and he always enjoyed talking to the local people. He could switch from German to English and back, whether he was talking about Winston Churchill or the local wildlife.”

Prince Bernhard, 50 is a grandson of the duke's second sister, Theodora, who married Berthold, Margrave of Baden. Philip was reportedly close to Theodora, even living with her in Germany for a time after his mother was placed in a Swiss sanatorium. Theodora and Berthold had three children: Philip’s nephews, Maximilian, Margrave of Baden and Prince Ludwig of Baden. Both were photographed with the duke in 2017 when they visited him for his 70th wedding anniversary celebrations with the Queen.

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh attends the wedding of Princess Eugenie of York (Getty Images)

Prince Donatus, 54, is the head of the House of Hesse, into which the duke's two younger sisters, Cecile and Sophie married. Princess Cecilie, who died when Philip was 16, was married to Hereditary Grand Duke George Donatus of Hesse. Philip’s youngest sister, Princess Sophie, reportedly traveled to Balmoral to spend time with the Queen and Prince Philip following their wedding in 1947, despite not being allowed to attend the wedding.

She was the first to get married — she wed Prince Christoph of Hesse in 1930. Christoph died in a plane crash in 1943. Her next wedding was with Prince George William of Hanover. They had three children.

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