Queen Elizabeth II has been given a rose named after her husband, Prince Philip, to mark what would have been his 100th birthday on Thursday.
Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, died on April 9, two months short of his landmark birthday. He was married to the queen, 95, for more than seven decades.
Buckingham Palace announced that last week, the queen was presented with a Duke of Edinburgh Rose – a newly bred pink commemorative rose – in his memory.
It has since been planted at the rose border of the East Terrace Garden at the queen's Windsor Castle home to the west of London, where she has spent most of her time since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and where her husband died.
It is also where the duke's funeral was held on Saturday, April 17.
"Whilst being very poignant, it was a delight to give Her Majesty The Queen ... the Duke of Edinburgh Rose to mark what would have been his 100th birthday and to remember his remarkable life," said Keith Weed, president of the Royal Horticultural Society.
The rose is now available to buy from the society, with royalties from the sale of each rose going towards The Duke of Edinburgh's Award's The Living Legacy Fund, supporting a scheme for young people that the duke set up, which now operates in more than 130 countries.
Prince Philip's birthday comes in the same week the queen welcomed her 11th great-grandchild. Prince Harry and Meghan, welcomed daughter Lilibet "Lili" Diana Mountbatten-Windsor on Friday, June 4.
The newborn is named after the monarch, whose family nickname is Lilibet. Prince Philip was thought to be last person to call her by the moniker, making the tribute all the more poignant.
– Additional reporting from Reuters
