A royal likeness? Why Prince Philip remained elusive on screen Weâre sorry, this service is currently unavailable. Please try again later. Dismiss By Jennifer Vineyard Save Normal text size Advertisement There have been numerous portrayals of Prince Philip over the course of his long life, which ended Friday at age 99. Actors including Tobias Menzies, Matt Smith, James Cromwell and Christopher Lee all played the part. However, according to one of Philipâs biographers, no one ever captured the manâs essence on screen. The reason, said Ingrid Seward, author of Prince Philip Revealed, is that no one ever had the opportunity to study him closely. As a man accustomed to walking a few paces behind his wife, Queen Elizabeth II, in public, he remained partly out of view.