Tribe Shocked To Hear Their 'God' Prince Philip Has Died

A tribe that thought of Prince Philip as a 'god' were devastated when they found out that he had died.

The Yaohnanen tribesmen and women who live on the Vanuatu island of Tanna reportedly prayed to Prince Philip every day to protect their crops.

However, they were saddened to learn from a woman from a nearby resort on Saturday (10 April) that the Prince Consort had passed away at the age of 99 a day earlier.

According to reports, one of the women burst into tears when she was told the tragic news.

Mary Niere, who works as an accountant at the White Grass Ocean Resort and Spa, told The Daily Mail that the news was a real blow to the community there.

Explaining how she delivered the news to an elderly man in the tribe's village, she said: "When I told him he was shocked and asked if I was telling the truth because he couldn't believe it.

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"They had to send messages to the yam garden to get the people back and when the chief (Charlie) came and everyone found out. They were very, very sad.

"The men were silent and looking down. Many of the women were very emotional and crying a lot."

The tribe, which is made up of around 400 people, has worshipped Prince Philip for many years.

However, with Prince Philip never having set foot on the island, it's unclear as to the exact reasoning behind their adulation for him.

It's thought that when the members of the Yaohnanen people saw him alongside Queen Elizabeth II in portraits from the Royal couple's visit to Port Vila in the 1960s, that they were impressed by him having married such a powerful woman.

They reportedly came to believe that he was the human incarnation of a volcano spirit who would return to Tanna one day.

Prince Philip, though, was well aware of their love and admiration for him.

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He would regularly send over photographs of himself to the people, which would be placed in a shrine for him.

And the tribe once returned the favour, sending him a traditional war club called a nal-nal used for hunting pigs.

They then asked him to pose for a photo with the club, which he duly obliged, and the snap was sent to the island in 1980.

A group of men from the tribe, including their late Chief Jack Naiva, once paddled 240km (150 miles) in a canoe to greet Prince Philip at Port Vila.

Now, according to the Mail, a huge feast is being organised in honour of the late Prince Consort.

Ms Niere said: "The ladies will come together and get some local food and then they will prepare lap-lap - pig that's cooked underground in banana leaves.

"Men will bring cava and in the afternoon they will all eat it and share it together."

Topics: World News, Queen Elizabeth II, Royal Family

Dominic Smithers

Dominic graduated from the University of Leeds with a degree in French and History. Like you, Dom has often questioned how much use a second language has been. Well, after stints working at the Manchester Evening News, the Accrington Observer and the Macclesfield Express, along with never setting foot in France, he realised the answer is surprisingly little. But I guess, c'est la vie. Contact us at [email protected]

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