Queen Elizabeth marks late husband Prince Philip's 100th birthday by planting a new rose named after him
Queen Elizabeth II spent Thursday honoring her late husband, Prince Philip, on what would have been his 100th birthday. To commemorate the occasion, the queen planted a rose, bred and named for Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh.
The pink rose, named "Duke of Edinburgh Rose," was bred by Harkness Roses and gifted by the Royal Horticultural Society, of which the queen is patron, last week, Buckingham Palace announced Thursday. It honors "all the marvelous things that he did over his lifetime and for everyone to remember so much that he did," the society's president told the queen.
The flower is described as having a "deep pink color dappled with white lines" and a "delicate fragrance." The queen said that the flower "looks lovely."
With the queen watching, the flower was planted at the rose border of the East Terrace Garden at her Windsor Castle home, where she has been staying for most of the coronavirus pandemic.
Royalties from the share of each rose sold will go towards the Duke of Edinburgh Award's Living Legacy Fund, which Philip originally established in 1956. It supports young people in more than 130 countries.
"The Fund will give a million more young people, from all circumstances and backgrounds, the opportunity to achieve a DofE Award," the palace said. "Each rose purchased will help establish new DofE centers, deepen existing support, and train thousands more Leaders and volunteers."
"In buying this rose you will also be giving one million more young people the opportunity to do their DofE Award, so not only is this rose spectacular to look at, but you will also be raising funds for a very worthy cause," DofE Managing Director Philip Harkness said in a statement.
Prince Philip died at the age of 99 on April 9, after a month-long hospital stay. He had been married to the now-95-year-old queen for more than seven decades and was the longest-serving royal consort.
Several members of the royal family honored the duke on Thursday to mark his centenary. Prince Charles, the couple's eldest son, and his wife, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, shared an image of a two-year-old Charles holding his father's hand after the duke returned from a trip to Malta in 1951.
Princess Eugenie also shared an image on Instagram, featuring the duke and the queen together at her 2018 wedding, with the caption, "Thinking of Grandpa on what would have been his 100th birthday."
Prince Edward, the couple's youngest son, told BBC News that his father "did not want all the fuss and bother" surrounding his milestone birthday.
"I think he wasn't really looking forward to the centenary, even if we were," he said in his first broadcast interview since his father's funeral.