Prince Philip once apologized to President Nixon for making a 'lame' toast By Will Weissert A timeline of Prince Philip’s long life Prince Philip, who died at 99, was born into the Greek royal family but spent almost all of his life as a pillar of the British one. WASHINGTON (AP) - Throughout his decades in public life, Prince Philip was known for putting his royal foot in his mouth with occasional off-the-cuff remarks that could be embarrassing. But his faux pas at a White House dinner with President Richard Nixon in 1969 was enough for Philip to actually lose sleep.