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The visit was largely unremarkable, except in one key way: a religious sect was born that views Philip as their god.
Matthew Baylis recently chronicled that visit and the religion, which thrives even 40 years later, in his new book “Man Belong Mrs. Queen: Adventures with the Philip Worshippers.”
“They had a jolly old time. They wore hawaiian shirts, they swam in lagoons, they took part in rituals. They sat on plastic chairs with ‘throne’ chalked on them. They rubbed noses with Tahitian lovelies,” Baylis said.
Baylis grew up in the Liverpool area, some 9,800 miles away from Vanuatu. But he, too, was fascinated by the Duke of Edinburgh, even hanging up a poster of the Prince on his bedroom wall.
When he was an anthropology student, he traveled to the South Pacific island nation to find out why the prince generated so much interest.
“In general, they [Prince Philip and Lord Montbatten] showed themselves to be very, very different from the colonial officials of which the people of that area had had the most experience,” he said.
“They showed themselves to be easy going, rough and ready, all-action guys and that’s exactly the kind of man who they most admire in that part of the South Pacific.”
Why Prince Philip? Baylis said the prince’s visit coincided with the island’s preparation for independence from the French and the British. Continue reading.
Source: Pri
Image: Richard Shears
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