Prince Philip Refused To Be King During Queen Elizabeth’s Coronation, Included In Service

Prince Philip was given the option to be king at Queen Elizabeth’s coronation years ago, but he refused. Even though this was the case, Her Majesty still made it a point to include her husband in the service.

In the book “The Crown: Truth and Fiction,” royal historian Hugo Vickers said that it is true that the Duke of Edinburgh was agitated while his wife was being crowned in 1952.

During that time, the Archbishop of Canterbury pushed Prince Philip out of the important occasion. He said that there must be no associations made with the Queen’s husband at the coronation.

Three years ago, Vickers told The Crown Chronicles that Her Majesty took it upon herself to involve her husband during the important milestone.

“He didn’t want to be King and it is true that the Archbishop tried to minimize his participation, but The Queen went out of her way to include him in the service, for example at the Communion,” he said.

Meanwhile, Vickers also opened up about “The Crown” and said that some of the accounts on the hit Netflix show are factual. On the show, Prince Philip was credited for insisting that his wife’s coronation be televised. This is the reason why millions of people were able to watch the momentous occasion decades ago.

But Vickers clarified that at least one of the scenes on “The Crown” isn’t accurate. He said that it’s not true that the dad of four refused to kneel to Her Majesty. Footage from the Queen’s coronation showed the Duke of Edinburgh kneeling in front of the monarch.

“The Coronation was a wonderful opportunity to create a scene of great visual magnificence, but it fell seriously short in regard to a great number of details. Thus, an important scene proves disappointing. The St Edward’s Crown with which the Queen is crowned is far too big, but this may have been intentional, to demonstrate the burden the Queen was assuming,” he said.