Prince Philip died on April 9, 2021, and was buried on April 17. In the days that have followed the news of his death, we've learned an awful lot about the man who stood by Queen Elizabeth's side for over 70 years.
A lot of that information has pertained to Philip's role within the royal family. We know all about his military service, and we know about his devotion to the Queen and to duty. The relationships between Philip and his children have been examined and reexamined, and we even gained more insight into the relationship between Prince Philip and Princess Diana.
One story might have been easy to overlook during the media blitz, but it's a good one: Prince Philip was apparently incredibly open to the idea that aliens exist, and he even authorized a royal family officer to investigate supportive claims after his wife's coronation.
Author Philip Eade was working on a biography of the Duke of Edinburgh when he found a curious little detail. While writing the introduction for Prince Philip: The Turbulent Early Life of the Man Who Married Queen Elizabeth II, he noted, "I was struck by the revelation […] that Prince Philip’s equerry once went off at the prince's bidding to meet an extraterrestrial humanoid at a house in Ealing."
Eade goes on to add even more details about Philip's fascination with aliens. It turns out the duke subscribed to a British magazine called Flying Saucer Review and regularly wrote letters with Timothy Good. Vice notes that Timothy Good described himself as the "leading authority on UFOs and the alien presence."
Soon after Queen Elizabeth's 1953 coronation, Philip also reportedly ordered his royal officer, Sir Peter Horsley, to begin looking into credible stories about UFO sightings and/or aliens. Horsley remained an important person in the royal household, and eventually became the deputy commander in chief of the Royal Air Force Strike Command.
Eade even spoke to Peter Horsley about Prince Philip's ongoing interest in alien life. He reported that it was explained like this, "Prince Philip was open to the immense possibilities leading to space exploration, while at the same time not discounting that, just as we were on the fringe of breaking into space, so older civilizations in the universe might already have done so."
Prince Philip also invited his fellow alien enthusiasts to Buckingham Palace. One man who wanted to meet Philip was named Mr. Janus, and Peter Horsley believed Mr. Janus was telepathic. He explained, "It was here the strangeness of it all started — the man's extraordinary ability to read my thoughts."
He continued, "I asked him why he wanted to meet Prince Philip and he replied, 'Prince Philip is a man of great vision, a person of world renown and a leader in the realm of wildlife and the environment. He is a man who believes strongly in the proper relationship between man and nature which will prove of great importance in future galactic harmony.'"
Prince Philip's interest in aliens was spurred on by his uncle, Lord Mountbatten, who was also reportedly a big believer. Eade shares that Lord Mountbatten once explained, "Martians, Venusians, Jupeterians, or what have you. Why should life in another planet with entirely different conditions in any way resemble life on our planet? Their inhabitants might be 'gaseous' or circular or very large. They certainly don't breathe, they may not have to eat and I doubt if they have babies — bits of their great discs may break away and grow into a new creature […] If the human race wishes to survive they may have to band together."
While Lord Mountbatten also noted that he "gradually" got over his interest in aliens, Prince Philip never made a similar statement. Vanity Fair states that Prince Philip read a book about the Rendlesham Forest incident, which is also known as England's most publicized UFO sighting, as recently as last year.
