New exhibition will honour Prince Philip

An exhibition celebrating Britain's Duke of Edinburgh's 90 years is to open at Britain's Windsor Castle Drawings Gallery next month.

Queen Elizabeth II's husband, Prince Philip, is refusing to have any fuss made over his landmark birthday later this year - but a collection of photographs, war diaries and jewellery have been put together to celebrate his life.

The exhibition follows the royal's life from being born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark in Corfu in 1921, to his family fleeing a politically unstable Greece, his education in Britain and enrolment in the British Royal Naval College in Dartmouth in 1939 where he undertook an officer's training course and graduated as the best cadet of his term.

Jane Roberts, the Royal Librarian and curator of the exhibition said: "I think a lot of people forget what an active and distinguished naval career the Duke had before he gave it up to support the queen following her accession in 1952."

The duke's handwritten Midshipman's log book from HMS Valiant - which took part in the Battle of Matapan against the Italian navy off the coast of Greece in March 1941 - will also be shown.

He served in the Navy throughout the Second World War and was the First Lieutenant aboard HMS Whelp in Tokyo Bay at the time of the Japanese surrender in September 1945.

Royal biographer Hugo Vickers told Britain's Daily Telegraph: "He is a modest man and doesn't harp on about his naval career, but there is no doubt he would have gone to the top of the Navy on merit."

Examples of Philip's jewellery, including a gold and gem-studded bracelet designed by the duke for the queen to mark their fifth wedding anniversary in 1952, has been loaned to the exhibition by Queen Elizabeth.

This jewellery will be shown alongside photographs taken on their honeymoon in 1947 and on their diamond wedding anniversary in 2007, which illustrate an enduring 65-year love.

'Prince Philip: Celebrating Ninety Years'is at Windsor Castle Drawings Gallery from Feb 12 to Jan 22 2012.