The most colorful moments of Philip

At the beginning of the afternoon, Buckingham Palace announced that Prince Philip has passed away. In two months, the oldest royal in the family would have turned 100, and he always said he had no intention of reaching that age.

Through The Crown, I feel like I knew him a little. His criminal activities, his rebellious antics, but in the end also his enormous loyalty to the crown and to Elizabeth. He was a remarkable man with colorful highlights, which is no surprise if you, as a British royal, prefer black coffee over tea (and 10 more really fun facts about Philip).

1. Beautiful life in Malta
After their wedding, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip lived in Malta for a year, where he worked for the navy. Insiders say this may have been the happiest time of their marriage. They were married for 76 years.

2. Quite outspoken
Prince Philip had a somewhat blunt image and often made headlines with his remarkable statements. They were often funny, sometimes they went too far. His family was certainly not spared. For example, he said about his favorite daughter Anne: ‘If she doesn't fart or eat hay, she's not interested.’ Anne is quite a horse lover.

3. The numbers
Prince Philip logged more than 5000 flight hours, had 22,000 appointments in his role as a royal, was a patron of 780 organizations, only retired when he was 95 years old, flipped his Range Rover when he was 97, and visited abroad 637 times.

4. Kind to Lady Di
Charles's father was most protective of Princess Diana, as we saw briefly in The Crown. In real life, this seems to have been even more so, even after his son's marriage to Diana.

5. In his free time
The Duke of Edinburgh loved many things. He used to play polo, was quite a gifted painter, and collected political cartoons. By the way, he was not very impressed by the likenesses made of him; he once exclaimed: ‘Is this me? I bloody well hope not.’

In the UK, he carries the telling nickname the Iron Duke. Philip was born on June 10, 1921, on a kitchen table as Prince of Greece and Denmark in Corfu. He passed away this morning at the age of 99 at Windsor Castle.