LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s Queen Elizabeth has been given a rose named after her late husband Prince Philip to mark what would have been his 100th birthday on Thursday, Buckingham Palace said.
Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, died on April 9, just two months short of his landmark birthday after more than seven decades of marriage to Elizabeth, who is now 95.
The Palace said that last week Elizabeth had been 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.
“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.
A royalty from the sale of each rose will go towards the Duke of Edinburgh Award Living Legacy Fund, supporting a scheme for young people that Philip set up and which now operates in more than 130 countries.
(Reporting by Michael Holden; Editing by Gareth Jones)
