Church leaders have been recalling the spiritual curiosity of the Duke of Edinburgh, whose funeral was held a few days ago.
Born into the Greek royal family as Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, he was baptised in the Greek Orthodox Church. His father was exiled and his family left Greece when Philip was very young. He became an Anglican when he married Elizabeth, who as Queen is Supreme Governor of the Church of England.
He was a regular visitor to Mount Athos, a monastic community and religious sanctuary in Greece, and was a long-time patron of the Templeton Prize, a lucrative award for contribution to life’s ‘spiritual dimension’ whose winners include Mother Teresa.
With the Dean of Windsor, Robin Woods, who later became Bishop of Worcester, he explored theology and the impact of faith on the world and was said to be fascinated by the interchange between science and theology. Letters between the Prince and Michael Mann, later Dean of Windsor, on the concept of evolution, were published in 1984 as A Windsor Correspondence.
