The Passing of a Great Friend of Ethiopia, HRH Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh

A Statement by His Imperial Highness Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie Haile-Selassie, President of the Crown Council of Ethiopia

The Ethiopian People lost a great friend with the passing on April 9, 2021, of His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. We deeply mourn his departure and honour his great achievements while extending deepest sympathies to Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth of Nations, for the loss of her beloved husband.

We share with the entire Royal Family and the Commonwealth the grief at the loss of the Queen Elizabeth’s consort, and we mourn the passing of a great friend of Ethiopia in Prince Philip. Among other things, he fought to protect the wildlife of our country.

But we remember him, as well, as a great figure who saw heroic service in World War II, and subsequently, with Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, built a great friendship with Ethiopia and with Emperor Haile Selassie I. We may think of Prince Philip particularly in light of the fact that he bridged the period of the great World War II alliance of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth with Ethiopia, bringing about the first Allied Victory of that war. The Victory of the Battle of Gondar in November 1941 saw Axis forces driven for the first time from foreign lands they had occupied illegally.

I was privileged to have met on occasion with HRH Prince Philip, and valued his counsel.

God Bless the memory of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and may we always think of him as a great friend of Ethiopia. God Bless, at this particular time, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth and her family, and the People of the great Commonwealth who Prince Philip served. And God Bless Ethiopia