The passing of Prince Philip has received wide publicity around the world. He is well remembered for many things, less mentioned though is that he was the most prominent immigrant to the United Kingdom of the 20th Century.
He was born on the island of Corfu in Greece in 1921, named Φίλιππος or in Romanised form Philippos Andreou, and inherited the titles of Prince of Greece and Denmark. In 1922 his family were exiled from Greece and lived in France in very difficult circumstances. Philippos said that he thought of himself as Danish, suggesting his Greek citizenship had ended with exile.
From 1928, with the sponsorship of his uncle Louis Mountbatten, Philippos continued his education in Britain attending Cheam and Gordonstoun schools, and from 1939 Dartmouth Naval College. What passport he carried or what nationality he asserted during these years in Britain is unknown, but he was either regarded as an alien or vaguely assumed to have been a British subject through his descent from Sophia the Electress of Hanover, under Princess Sophia's Naturalization Act, 1705. If he had been treated as an alien in British law, then he would have required leave to be in Britain under the Aliens Acts and periodically registered his presence with the local police.
In any case, Philip had entered the service of the Royal Navy in 1939 and would have been exempt from immigration control regardless of his nationality. By early 1947 his marriage to Princess Elizabeth was expected and the question of his nationality was carefully examined by Home Office experts. It was found that his parents’ marriage was invalid in English law as it had not received the approval of King Edward VII as required under the Royal Marriage Act 1772 and he was not a British subject through descent from Sophia. if the Princess married him in this condition, she would have lost British nationality and become an alien - a politically unattractive situation for someone directly in the line of succession to the throne!
In February 1947, Philip renounced his titles, formally changed his name to Philip Mountbatten, and was granted a certificate of naturalisation as a British subject, directly by the Home Secretary, a very rare event. With several new titles bestowed by the King, Philip was suitably prepared for his marriage in November. The nationality laws of the UK have had several upheavals since and from 1983 he was a British citizen.
In the period July 1962 to February 1968, his exemption from immigration control under the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962 and 1968 relied on his possession of a United Kingdom passport. In contrast, his wife the Queen enjoyed exemption from control through her birth in the United Kingdom, which was fortuitous as the sovereign does not as a matter of custom carry any passport.
His journey from a stateless alien immigrant with Danish identity to a fully assimilated British figure in very senior public office is extraordinary, but thousands of others have had very remarkable passages from frail situations to successful lives in the United Kingdom. And one key part of these journeys was the resolution of nationality issues, so as to obtain British citizenship or obtain recognition of existing British citizenship. As seen in the case of Phillipos above, determination of citizenship is not straightforward, and it is unwise to rely on assumptions, whether you are blue-blooded or not or planning to marry a Royal.
Start your journey by contacting Passportia for a detailed evaluation that discovers or verifies your claim to British citizenship, be it via ancestry, colonial links or family history, and provides the outcome in a detailed report.
