BUCKINGHAM Palace today announced the death of Prince Philip, aged 99. The palace said: “It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen has announced the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.”
The royal family have been regular visitors to Teesdale – here are a few photos from the Teesdale Mercury’s archives showing the royal’s time in the dale.
The first show the Queen and Prince Philip on a shooting holiday in Holwick in 1991.
The Mercury reported: “The weather was perfect, with the scenery at its best, and the Queen said she was most impressed by it. This was her first visit to Holwick, the country home of her cousin, the Earl of Strathmore.
“But she had heard a lot about it from the Queen Mother, a yearly summer visitor to Streatlam Castle, which was owned by her family, in her girlhood days.
“She also knew about Holwick through her sister Princess Margaret, who enjoyed a brief holiday there a few years ago.
“Prince Charles has also dined at the lodge while visiting the dale.”
Lord Strathmore told the Mercury: “The Queen had heard a lot of nice things about Holwick , and I told her it would be splendid if she could come and see for herself. Happily, she and Prince Philip were able to fit in this visit, and it has been a great success all round.”
The Mercury reported that the “Prince showed his skill with a shotgun while the Queen helped to pick up birds.”
The royal couple were taken for an after-hours visit to The Bowes Museum.
For reasons of privacy and security, staff were asked not to talk in advance about the visit. But word got out from various other sources before they arrived, and “like most good secrets in the upper dale just about everyone knew of it.”
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Prince Philip returned to Teesdale three years later when he took part in Streatlam horse driving trials.
The Mercury’s front page recorded: “Prince Philip was doing well in the cross country section of the Streatlam Park driving trials on Saturday when one of his carriage wheels clipped an obstruction and put him and his team out of contention.
“He looked less than happy as he moved away from the gaze of spectators and studied the damaged wheel.
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“He was driving a carriage pulled by four of the Queen’s fell ponies when the mishap came towards the end of the testing course.
“He appeared likely to finish second in this section of the event, as he had done in the dressage on Friday.
“Other competitors shouted ‘hard luck”as he waited for the broken carriage to be taken away.
“One competitor said: ‘He is an expert driver – it was just tough luck that he clipped an obstacle in such a public place’.”
