On the 10th of June, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge released a personal message to commemorate the Duke of Edinburgh’s 100th birthday.

Prince Philip would have been 100 years old on Thursday, but the Duke of Edinburgh sadly died in April.

“Today we remember His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh, on what would have been his 100th birthday,” Prince William and Kate said on social media.

Prince William paid homage to his “extraordinary” grandpa and posted a photo shot by Kate in Norfolk in 2015 of the Duke enjoying a carriage ride with a then two-year-old Prince George.

The Queen also used social media to commemorate the day, sharing a lovely Duke of Edinburgh rose she received in honour of her late husband.

“Last week, The Queen was gifted a Duke of Edinburgh rose by @The_RHS, of which Her Majesty is Patron. Visit @RoyalFamily to see more.” The picture showed the Queen planting a newly-bred rose named for her late husband, who she adored.

The post continued: ‘In 1956 His Royal Highness founded The Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme which he described as a “do-it-yourself growing up kit.”

‘For every Duke of Edinburgh Rose sold, a donation will be made to The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Living Legacy Fund.

‘The Fund will give a million more young people, from all circumstances and backgrounds, the opportunity to achieve a DofE Award. Each rose purchased will help establish new DofE centres, deepen existing support, and train thousands more Leaders and volunteers.’

Following a 28-day stay in hospital for an illness, Prince Philip died in the early hours of April 9th at the age of 99. He died of old age, it was subsequently discovered. A small group of 30 family members and friends met a little more than a week later for the Duke’s funeral, which was conducted at St George’s Chapel in Windsor, where the Duke’s grandchildren Prince Harry and Princess Eugenie both married in 2018.

In a letter to a royal fan, William and Kate wrote that their three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis, are missing their “much loved great-grandfather” in the wake of his death.

William and Kate ‘to bolster union’

Prince William and Kate Middleton will be dispatched to Scotland in an effort to rescue the Union, according to Buckingham Palace courtiers.

According to The Sunday Times, if the plans are approved, William and Kate would spend more time at Balmoral and enhance links with their old university town of St Andrews, amid mounting fears over support for Scottish independence.

The news comes only days after the pair toured Scotland, and William described Scotland as “so important” to him and his wife.

Prince William also talked movingly about how he had some of his greatest days in the country, alluding to his university days when he met Kate, and some of his darkest, such as when his mother Diana died in 1997 and he was living at Balmoral.

Following the Scottish National Party’s victory in the Holyrood election last month, which resulted in the greatest pro-independence majority in the parliament’s history, speculation about the potential of another independence referendum has grown.

Boris Johnson has now maintained his pre-election stance, arguing that the emphasis should be on recovering from Covid-19 rather than holding another independence referendum.

“They think of it as their Union,” a source close to the Royal family told the Sunday Times.

“It was originally a union of crowns. They think the politicians have been losing Scotland for them.

“What William is doing is a deliberately more muscular approach to the crown investing in the relationship with Scotland.”

‘During his time in Scotland Prince William has spoken to a broad range of people from different communities including politicians from across the political spectrum,’ a Kensington Palace official said last month.

The Duke met with First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Liberal Democrat MP for Orkney and Shetland Alistair Carmichael.

Mr Salmond, who was first minister at the time of the referendum on Scotland’s membership in the UK, accused pro-UK figures of engaging in “unscrupulous unionist desperation” by attempting to persuade the royals to advocate for the union.