Cartoon Museum marks the passing of its patron, Prince Philip

Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh has been an enthusiastic Patron of The Cartoon Museum in London for over 20 years and his death, announced earlier today, has been greeted with sorrow.

Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, at the opening of the Giles exhibition at the Cartoon Museum in 1994. Image courtesy The Cartoon Museum
Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh at the Cartoon Museum. Image courtesy The Cartoon Museum

In 1949 Prince Philip and the young Princess Elizabeth attended the Royal Society of Arts and listened to a speech by the great British cartoonist H. M. Bateman, calling for a national museum of cartoons.

Over the years since the Prince gave the museum continuous support and, with his great love of humour, he admired the genre of British cartooning. In 1994, he opened the museum’s exhibition on Carl Giles, who drew for the Daily and Sunday Express from 1943 – 1991. The Duke of Edinburgh owned several Giles cartoons in his private collection, and was his favourite cartoonist. He admired his social observations, gentle humour, and depictions of the Royal Family.

Cartoon by Peter Brookes. Courtesy of The Cartoon Museum
Cartoon by Peter Brookes. Courtesy of The Cartoon Museum

The monarchy have been a persistent (and easy) target of cartoonists and caricaturists for 300 years, from Gillray and Beerbohm to Scarfe, Bell, Rowson and Peter Brookes – but the Duke of Edinburgh could always see the funny side in any situation, and took humorous depictions of himself in his stride. In 2002, Prince Philip opened an exhibition of cartoons on the Kings and Queens (300 Years of Cartoons about the Monarchy), and in 2006 he opened London’s first museum of cartoons.

The Cartoon Museum team, its Trustees, Staff, and many in the cartooning community are therefore saddened to hear Prince Philip has passed away, and send their deepest condolences to HM The Queen and his family.



Categories: British Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Events, Exhibitions, Obituaries

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1 reply

  1. I have always thought that he would the kind of person who would laugh along with you or with the cartoonist’s cartoons about him or the family, and treated it like water off a ducks back. Unless it was one he’d shot and was going to have for dinner……. 🙂

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