The Pacific tribe who believed that Philip of Edinburgh was a God. The sect of the Prince Philip Movement, resident on the island of Vanuatu, prepares a farewell tribute to the Duke of Edinburgh.
Prince Philip of Edinburgh , husband of Queen Elizabeth II of England who died this Friday at the age of 99 , will have a private funeral, simple and marked by the pandemic . Although the United Kingdom is already working on its funerals, at the other end of the world a small tribe from the Pacific prepares a ceremonial dismissal for the man they have considered a God .
It is the sect known as the Prince Philip Movement , formed by the inhabitants of Yaohnanen, a small town on the island of Tanna, south of Vanuatu , an archipelago republic made up of up to 83 islands.
According to the ancient Yaohnanen stories, the son of a mountain spirit traveled to distant lands to marry a powerful woman. Prince Philip of Edinburgh is revered according to the cult as a reincarnation of that warrior god.
Although the exact origin of this belief is unknown, it is speculated that it could be between 1950 and 1960. When they saw how the colonialist officials of Vanuatu and other regions of the Pacific prostrated themselves before Queen Elizabeth II of England, they thought that the husband of that woman so powerful had to be the spirit of legends.
The queen and Felipe visited Vanuatu in 1974 but then the duke was unaware of the existence of this particular cult. A few years later, upon meeting him, Felipe sent up to three signed photographs to the tribe. Her two children Prince Charles and Princess Anne revisited the oceanic republic in 2018 and 2014 respectively.
It is expected that in the coming days the tribe will pay homage to their god with a ceremonial dismissal with laments and ritual dances.
