Queen Elizabeth Presents Australian Knighthood To Prince Philip

The Queen presented Prince Philip, her husband, with his Australian knighthood badge on Thursday. The ceremony took place in the white drawing room at Windsor Castle.

Alexander Downer, Australia's high commissioner in the UK, was present during the ceremony where the Duke of Edinburgh and the Queen are staying at present. Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott earlier recommended that the Duke should be awarded knighthood, which the Queen agreed to.

However, senior government ministers were not aware of the Australian knighthood until it was made public on Jan. 26. Abbott said during that time that the Duke’s long life of service and dedication should be honoured by Australia. However, the Australian PM suffered a public backlash while his party did not accept the proposal. Abbott was eventually forced to give up the power to create Australian knights and dames.

Buckingham Palace confirmed that ceremony in a statement. "The Queen today invested The Duke of Edinburgh with the insignia of a Knight of the Order of Australia at Windsor Castle," the short statement said.

The Queen holds her Easter Court at Windsor Castle every year. She spends three to four weeks there and holds several ceremonies. She celebrated her 89^th birthday on April 21. She is expecting her new great-grandchild to be born any day as Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, is going to give birth to her second child with Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge.

A spokesperson for Buckingham Palace said that the conversation between the Duke and the Queen during the ceremony would not be made public as it was a standard royal procedure not to give out details about such conversations. Buckingham Palace, on the other hand, released the insignia and photographs of the ceremony.

The Queen handed over the insignia to the Duke in a box in front of a royal audience. The ceremony was similar to the ones where the Queen awarded a Victoria cross. The spokesperson said that the photograph of the ceremony spoke for itself.

Australia’s system of knights and dames was abolished in 1986. Abbott restored it during the early part of 2014.

Contact the writer: s.mukhopadhyay@ibtimes.com.au