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Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth II  have been happily married for 71 years, however in that time they have suffered some heartbreaking family tragedies. They, alongside Prince Charles,

were “devastated” when Philip’s uncle Lord Louis Mountbatten was killed by an IRA bomb in 1979. In 1936, the sixteen-year-old Philip endured the tragic death of Princess Cecilie, known to

her family as Cécile, who has been described as the Duke of Edinburgh’s favourite sister. Podcast “Royals”, from Australian magazine New Idea, heard from royal expert Angela Mollard who

discussed the tragedy. Ms Mollard said: “Prince Philip’s sister died in a plane crash back in 1937, she was 26. “She was flying to London for a family wedding when she went into labour with

her fourth child.” The princess and her husband were travelling in the plane on November 16, 1937, to attend the wedding of her husband George’s brother, Prince Ludwig, when their plane hit

a factory chimney near Ostend, Belgium, killing all on board.  After the remains of a newborn baby boy were found in the wreckage, the Belgian official enquiry concluded that Cecilie had

given birth mid-flight and that this is was what prompted the pilot to attempt an emergency landing in bad weather.  Ms Mollard explains: “Her husband George Donatus and [their] two sons

were killed.” Prince Ludwig and Prince Alexander were six and four respectively. The only surviving member of the family was the couple’s infant daughter Princess Johanna, who was not on the

plane. Johanna was adopted by the newly-married couple Prince Ludwig and Princess Margaret, whose wedding the family had been travelling to attend.  Their sombre wedding went on take place

the day after the crash.  Princess Johanna died just two years later at the age of two-and-a-half from meningitis, and she is buried with her parents and siblings. Royal biographer Hugo

Vickers in his 2003 biography of Princess Alice, Prince Philip’s mother, wrote how the Princess said that the unconscious Johanna so closely resembled her mother at the same age that it felt

like losing her daughter Cecilie all over again. Ms Mollard continued: “Philip was 16 at the time, and attended the funeral. “You think about the sadness and real loss this family has gone

through, there's been a lot more tragedy than perhaps we’ve been aware of. “It shows how resilient and robust they actually are." Prince Philip's three other older sisters

were Margarita, Theodora and Sophie. In 1922, Cecilie and her sisters were bridesmaids at the wedding of their maternal uncle, and later Prince Charles’ “honorary grandfather”, Lord Louis

Mountbatten to Edwina Ashley. Prince Philip had what has been described as a “traumatic childhood" as, in addition to this family tragedy, he endured his family’s exile from Greece and

an itinerant upbringing. He had little contact with his mother Princess Alice, after she was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1930 and was subsequently forcibly placed in an asylum.