Prince Philip once said he had 'no desire' to live to 100, dies just months before birthday

Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh and the Prince Consort of England, took his last breath just weeks away from his milestone 100th birthday, which would have made him the first senior male British royal to mark his centenary. However, the Duke personally had "no desire" to live that long.

Prince Philip had confessed the same to the Telegraph's Gyles Brandreth in an interview that he gave over two decades ago. Then aged 79, the Duke had said that he is not fond of growing older.

Brandreth recalled their conversation about ageing in a piece published in 2019, and said that the royal had told him he had "no desire whatsoever" to live to become a centenarian.

"I can't imagine anything worse. Bits of me are falling off already," Prince Philip said in the 2000 interview, according to Brandreth.

He lived for more than twenty years after his confession, but passed away on April 9, just two months shy of his 100th birthday on June 10. Planning was reportedly underway for a socially distanced celebration at Buckingham Palace, but palace sources had said that he didn't want a big fuss about it.

"The one person you can guarantee will not want anything to do with it, is the duke. You can't do something if someone doesn't want something doing...He's retired, he's stepped back, he doesn't want the fuss. You can't blame him," an insider had said.

Philip is still the third longest-lived British royal, behind his mother-in-law Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother, who was 101 at the time of her death, and Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, who lived to be 102.

Philip's demise came just a few weeks after he returned home following a month-long stay in the hospital, which was his longest hospitalisation ever. A source told Us Weekly that despite his recent "poor health," his death was a "surprise" to his wife, Queen Elizabeth II, who is "heartbroken" over the loss. Charles Anson, former press secretary to the Queen, also confirmed to People that the monarch was prepared for the worst, but this is still "a very cathartic moment."