# 189: The Prince’s Journey
Story behind the Passage
Today, the Buckingham Palace announced the passing of Prince Philip. He was 99. The book above is one of the most beautiful and sad ones about mourning that I ever read.
My Learnings
We knew you from the papers and TV.
The tall guy with the boyisch smile.
Nobody saw what was really inside you.
You were the “husband of “— “the prince of.”
Almost 100 hundred years on earth,
What a journey.
1921, the post-war years.
2021, the pandemic feels like war to some.
Who knows how much you cared about this.
Does one care much at age 99?
Are there any “priorities”?
There was probably one thing: duty.
The Crown is a “firmm,” as we learned.
There are responsibilities and many rules.
You sometimes violated them.
And then you smiled.
You drove your car at age 97
And crashed it
Without any injuries.
The papers liked you,
I think.
But how can you like someone you do not know?
We all do this, right?
The kings and queens, they remind us of the bygone ages.
You lived through history.
Your journey lasted longer than for most.
Imagine at age 40,
there are 60 years left.
Is that a gift?
Or a burden?
It is good that we do not know how long the journey will be.
Maybe that is why we do not pay for life with money.
If you book a trip to the Baleares,
You know when the return flight goes.
Did you ever travel to the Baleares without entourage, Philip?
Did you ever take one step outside without security?
I wonder what will happen now.
Will the monarchy survive?
Sure, it did not depend on you.
You were only the tour guide, the “company of.”
Your wife rules the kingdom.
Maybe there are times for everything.
Maybe there are times when monarchies die.
You do not have to worry about this anymore.
Your journey on earth came to an end.
People think about “last thoughts and words.”
It is a bit sentimental.
Many die with tubes in their mouth.
The tubes swallow their last words.
The medication kills their last thoughts.
But we do not know this for sure.
Maybe you know this now.
The deceased know more than the living.
The question is: what is left behind?
Who is left behind?
The papers will write about it,
That much we know.
The cameras will be all over.
The speakers of the “firm” will be occupied.
A lot needs to be organized.
Royal weddings are exhausting and expensive.
Royal burials are too.
There will be people not watching.
There are some who hate monarchy.
But there is one thing, they forget:
In life and death — we are all equal.
Farewell, dear Philip.
Reflection Questions
1) How do you think about the monarchy?
2) Except for the “journey” — is there any other metaphor that you like to use for life?
3) Do you have a goal that you want to reach before “getting old”? What is it?