List of titles and honours of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh


, has received numerous titles, decorations, and honorary appointments, both during and before his time as consort to Queen Elizabeth II. Each is listed below. Where two dates are shown, the first indicates the date of receiving the title or award and the second indicates the date of its loss, renunciation or when its use was discontinued.

Royal and noble titles and styles

The Prince's style and title in full: "His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Merioneth, Baron Greenwich, Royal Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, Extra Knight of the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle, Member of the Order of Merit, Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order, Grand Master and First and Principal Knight Grand Cross of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, Additional Member of the Order of New Zealand, Extra Companion of the Queen's Service Order, Knight of the Order of Australia, Royal Chief of the Order of Logohu, Extraordinary Companion of the Order of Canada, Extraordinary Commander of the Order of Military Merit, Canadian Forces Decoration, Lord of Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, Member of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada, Personal Aide-de-Camp to His Majesty King George VI, Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom".

Royal styles and titles 1947

On 19 November 1947, the day preceding his wedding, King George VI bestowed by Letters Patent the style His Royal Highness on Philip, and on the morning of the wedding, 20 November 1947, further Letters Patent of that day created him Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Merioneth, and Baron Greenwich of Greenwich in the County of London. Consequently, being already a Knight of the Garter, between 19 and 20 November 1947 he bore the unusual style His Royal Highness Sir Philip Mountbatten and is so described in the Letters Patent of 20 November 1947.

Debate over Prince Philip's titles and honours

Royal title

On the popular, but erroneous, assumption that if Philip had the style of His Royal Highness he was automatically a British Prince, media reports after his marriage to Princess Elizabeth referred to a Prince Philip, with or without reference to any ducal title. This may have been influenced by the fact that he had actually been a Prince of Greece and Denmark by birth, the use of which titles he had discontinued already. Although the princely title was omitted in the British Regency Act 1953, and in Letters Patent of November 1953 appointing Counsellors of State, it had been included in Letters Patent of 22 October 1948 conferring princely rank on children from Philip's marriage to Elizabeth. King George VI, however, is believed to have been clear and intentional in having withheld the title of Prince from his future son-in-law.
On 3 February 1953, John Diefenbaker MP made this political football by expressing to the House of Commons of Canada his desire to see Philip bear a title that alluded to the Queen's pan-national position and put forward the suggestion of Prince of the Commonwealth. In May of the following year, U.K. Prime Minister Winston Churchill received a written suggestion from the Queen that her husband be granted the title that Diefenbaker had mentioned, or some other suitable augmentation of his style. Churchill preferred the title Prince Consort, but the Foreign Secretary, Anthony Eden, expressed a preference for Prince of the Realm. While the Commonwealth Prime Ministers were assembled in London, Churchill was requested by the Queen to informally solicit their opinions on the matter of the Queen's husband's title. Canadian Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent was the only one to express "misgivings", while Philip insisted to the Queen that he objected to any enhancement of his title. The Queen thereafter contacted Churchill and told him to drop the matter. In 1955, the South African Prime Minister J. G. Strijdom belatedly made it known that the South African Cabinet objected to the title Prince of the Commonwealth. When told, the Queen continued to express the wish that her husband's position be raised, but rejected the British Cabinet's recommendations of Prince Consort or Prince Royal. The British Cabinet then suggested simply His Royal Highness the Prince, but the Queen was advised that if she still preferred Prince of the Commonwealth, her Private Secretary could write directly to the Commonwealth Governors-General for their response, though warning that if their consent was not unanimous the proposal could not go forward.
The matter appeared left until the publication on 8 February 1957 of an article by P. Wykeham-Bourne in The Evening Standard titled: "Well, is it correct to say Prince Philip?" A few days following, Prime Minister Harold Macmillan reversed the advice of the Queen's previous ministers and formally recommended that the Queen reject the Prince in favour of Prince of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Her other Realms and Territories, only to change this advice, after she consented, to delete even the vague reference to the Commonwealth countries. Letters Patent were issued on 22 February 1957 giving the Duke the style and titular dignity of a Prince of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. According to the announcement in the London Gazette, he should henceforth be known as His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, with the capitalised definite article normally restricted to the children of monarchs.
The media cultivated speculation in early 2007 that the title of Prince Consort might be conferred to mark the royal couple's 60th wedding anniversary in November that year; however, this did not occur.

Order of Australia

Prince Philip's elevation in 2015 from Companion to Knight of the Order of Australia caused some political controversy in Australia. Prime Minister Tony Abbott's recommendation to the Queen to confer the honour was criticised by the Labor opposition leader, Bill Shorten, among others. However, various ministers and editorials supported his award of an honour.

Naval ranks and appointments

Commonwealth">Commonwealth of Nations">Commonwealth realms

Appointments

Decorations and medals

Other Commonwealth countries

;Appointments
CountryDateAppointmentPost-nominal letters
Zanzibar1963Member First Class of the Order of the Brilliant Star
Maldives13 March 1972Member of the Most Distinguished Order of NishanizzuddeenNIIV
Singapore1972Honorary Member of the Darjah Utama TemasekDUT
Brunei1972Member First Class of the Family Order of Laila UtamaDK

;Decorations
CountryDateDecorationPost-nominal letters
Brunei1992Sultan of Brunei Silver Jubilee Medal
Malta1992Malta George Cross Fiftieth Anniversary Medal

Foreign honours

; Orders
CountryDateAppointmentPost-nominal letters
1941Collar of the Order of Saints George and Constantine with swords
1947Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Redeemer
Denmark16 November 1947Knight of the Order of the ElephantRE
19501975Knight Grand Cross with Swords of the Royal Order of George IGCGI
1950Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Order of the PhoenixGCP
Monaco15 February 1951Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St. Charles
Norway1952Grand Cross with Collar of the Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav
Panama29 November 1953Grand Cross of the Order of Manuel Amador Guerrero
Sweden1954Knight of the Royal Order of the SeraphimRSerafO
1954Grand Cross with Chain of the Order of the Queen of Sheba
Portugal25 October 1955Grand Cross of the Order of the Tower and SwordGCTE
1956Member First Class of the Order of King Faisal I
France9 April 1957Grand Cross of the National Order of the Legion of Honour
Italy1958Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic
Netherlands26 March 1958Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Netherlands Lion
Netherlands1971Commander of the Order of the Golden Ark
Germany1958Grand Cross Special Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
Nepal1960Member of the Order of Ojaswi Rajanya
Finland1961Commander Grand Cross of the Order of the White RoseSVR SR
Tunisia1961Grand Cordon of the Order of Independence
Liberia23 November 1961Grand Band of the Order of the Star of Africa
Ecuador1962Grand Cross of the National Order of Merit
Peru1962Grand Cross in Brilliants of the Order of the Sun of Peru
Bolivia1962Grand Cross of the Order of the Condor of the Andes
Chile1962Collar of the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit
Brazil1962Grand Cross of the National Order of the Southern Cross
Paraguay1962Grand Cross Extraordinary of the National Order of Merit
Argentina1962Grand Cross of the Order of the Liberator General San Martin
Belgium1963Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold
Iceland1963Grand Cross of the Order of the Falcon
1964Collar of the Order of the Aztec Eagle
Jordan1966Grand Cordon of the Supreme Order of the Renaissance
1971Member First Class of the Order of the Supreme Sun
Japan1971Grand Cordon of the Supreme Order of the Chrysanthemum
South Korea1985Blue Dragon of the Order of Sports Merit
Luxembourg12 June 1972Knight of the Order of the Gold Lion of the House of Nassau
SFR Yugoslavia19 October 19721992Yugoslav Great Star of the Order of the Yugoslav Star
Palestine1972Star of Palestine
Zaire1973Grand Cordon of the National Order of the Leopard
Portugal31 May 1973Grand Collar of the Order of the Infante Dom HenriqueGCIH
Netherlands1979Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the Golden Ark
Oman27 February 1979Member First Class of the Military Order of Oman
Qatar22 February 1979Collar of the Order of Independence
Portugal14 August 1979Grand Cross of the Order of AvizGCA
Morocco29 October 1980Member Special Class of the Order of Muhammad
Spain19 October 1986Knight Grand Cross of the Royal and Distinguished Spanish Order of Carlos III
Poland1991Grand Cordon of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland
Portugal27 April 1993Grand Cross of the Order of Christ GCC
United Arab Emirates2010Order of the Federation
Saudi Arabia2010Member of the Distinguished First Class of the King Abdul Aziz Order of Merit

;Decorations
CountryDateDecorationPost-nominal letters
1945Greek War Cross
France1945Croix de Guerre with Palm
Sudan1964Decoration of the Republic, First Class
Austria1966Decoration for Service to the Republic of Austria, Grand Star
14 October 1971Commemorative Medal of the 2500th Anniversary of the founding of the Persian Empire

Wear of orders, decorations, and medals

Awards worn regularly by Prince Philip are noted in the above tables and are worn in accordance with customary British conventions applicable to the occasion, the location and to the form of dress worn. Awards not specifically noted are worn by Prince Philip on appropriate occasions relating to the country that made the award, again in accordance with UK conventions. The current ribbons worn by Prince Philip are as follows:


Notes on wear

Honorary military positions

; Australia
; Canada
; New Zealand
; Trinidad and Tobago
; United Kingdom

Citizenship

;Commonwealth Realms
;Other Commonwealth
;Foreign

Scholastic

; Chancellor, visitor, governor, and fellowships
CountryDateSchoolPosition
Wales19481976University of WalesChancellor
Scotland19522011University of EdinburghChancellor
England1953University College, University of OxfordHonorary Fellow
England1953Charterhouse SchoolRoyal Governor
England1954King's College LondonLife Governor
Canada1955Upper Canada CollegeVisitor
England19572004University of Manchester Institute of Science and TechnologyVisitor
United Kingdom19572012English-Speaking UnionPresident
England1959Churchill College, University of CambridgeVisitor
England19671990University of SalfordChancellor
England19762011University of CambridgeChancellor

;Honorary degrees
CountryDateSchoolDegree
Wales1949University of WalesDoctor of Laws
England1951University of LondonDoctor of Laws
England1951Durham UniversityDoctor of Civil Law
England1957Reading UniversityDoctor of Science
Malta1959University of MaltaDoctor of Laws
India1959University of DelhiDoctor of Science
Peru1962University of LimaDoctor of Engineering
England1964University of OxfordDoctor of Civil Law
California1966University of CaliforniaDoctor of Laws
England1967University of SalfordDoctor of Science
England1967University of SouthamptonDoctor of Science
Canada1969University of VictoriaDoctor of Science
Canada1 July 1983University of Western OntarioDoctor of Laws
Jordan1984University of JordanDoctor of Laws
Australia1986Monash UniversityDoctor of Laws
England2012University of PlymouthDoctor of Marine Science

Honorific eponyms

Awards

Buildings