Did he see more change than any of us will? Prince Philip has died aged 99. He led an extraordinary life and was a witness to some of the most momentous events in world history.

It was the beginning of a life filled with both privilege and deprivation, caught between a deeply traditional past and an uncertain future. Through his mother, Philip was a member of the Danish royal family as well as the Greek, but where he really belonged was far from obvious.

His parents settled in Paris, but at seven he was sent to boarding school in England. Shortly afterwards, his mother was diagnosed with schizophrenia and sent to an asylum, where she spent two years. For the rest of his childhood, he hardly saw her. He experienced another tragedy at 16 when his sister Cecilie was killed in an air crash.

After five years at a Scottish boarding school, Gordonstoun, Philip went to the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth as a cadet. Graduating in 1940, he spent the rest of World War Two on active service, proving himself to be a brave and resourceful officer.

The war took him far and wide. He served on ships protecting convoys in the Indian Ocean and on Britain's east coast. He was mentioned in dispatches after the Battle of Cape Matapan, off Greece, and involved in the Battle of Crete. At 21 he became one of the youngest first lieutenants in the Royal Navy.

A year later, the ship of which he was second in command, HMS Wallace, took part in the invasion of Sicily. When it came under attack from night bombers, he devised an ingenious plan - launching a raft billowing with smoke which distracted the enemy and allowed the Wallace to escape.

The end of the war found him serving in the Pacific Ocean. On 2 September 1945, he witnessed Japan's official surrender being signed aboard a ship in Tokyo Bay.

Philip first met his future wife in 1939, when she was just 13. Princess Elizabeth was visiting the Royal Naval College with her parents, and he was asked to act as their escort. He proposed to her seven years later, and on 20 November 1947, they were married in Westminster Abbey. The service was broadcast by BBC radio to 200 million people across the world.

Seismic century

Philip continued with his naval duties until 1951, by which time the couple's two eldest children, Prince Charles and Princess Anne, had been born. The following year, King George VI died, and Philip began a new chapter in his life as the Queen's husband.

There was much debate about what he should be called and what his position would be within the royal family. Before marrying, he had renounced his Greek and Danish royal titles to become a British citizen, and had been given the title of His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh. In 1957, the Queen made him a prince.

Did he witness more change than any of us will?

Some say, yes. When he was born, few people had cars or travelled by air. Much of the world was ruled by imperial powers. Communism was in its infancy, many women did not yet have the vote and there was no welfare state. Computer science barely existed; TV, the atom bomb, heart transplants and space rockets had yet to be invented. Some towns were still waiting for electricity.

Others argue that the pace of change increases all the time, and the inventions of the last 99 years might be nothing compared to those ahead of us. Flying cars and colonies on Mars could become things we take for granted in the next few decades; entirely new forms of energy might be developed. Climate change could transform our geography, politics and whole way of life.