History
PHOTO: A Glimpse Into The Tribe That Worships Late Prince Philip As Their god
The Prince Philip movement is a religious sect followed by the Kastom people around the villages of Yaohnanen and Yakel on the southern island of Tanna in Vanuatu.
It is a cargo cult of the Yaohnanen tribe, who believe in the divinity of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (1921–2021), the consort to Queen Elizabeth II.
According to ancient Yaohnanen tales, the son of a mountain spirit travelled over the seas to a distant land. There, he married a powerful woman and in time would return to them. He was sometimes said to be a brother to John Frum.
The people of the Yaohnanen and Takel area believe in the divinity of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, the consort to Queen Elizabeth II. They had seen the respect accorded to Queen Elizabeth II by the colonial officials and concluded that her husband, Prince Philip, must be the son referred to in their legends.
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It is unclear just when this belief came about, but it was probably some time in the 1950s or 1960s. It was strengthened by the royal couple’s official visit to Vanuatu in 1974, when a few villagers had the opportunity to actually see Prince Philip from a distance.
The Prince was not then aware of the sect, but it was brought to his attention several years later by John Champion, the British Resident Commissioner in the New Hebrides.
In April 2021 the sect mourned Prince Philip’s death. Village Chief Albi said that he was “terribly, terribly sorry” that he died and tribal leader Chief Yapa sent his condolences to the Royal Family and the people of the UK.
The Union Flag is flying at half mast on the grounds of the nakamal. A formal mourning period was declared and many tribespeople gathered on 12 April in a ceremony to remember the Duke, where men took turns to speak and pay tribute to him.
For the next few weeks, villagers will periodically meet to conduct rites for him, who they see as a “recycled descendant of a very powerful spirit or god that lives on one of their mountains”.
They will conduct ritualistic dance, hold a procession, and display memorabilia of the Duke, while the men will drink kava, a ceremonial drink made from the roots of the kava plant.
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