Yahoo Finance Princess Anne Pays Tribute to Her Father Prince Philip: He Was 'My Teacher, My Supporter and My Critic'
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Princess Anne is honoring her late father, Prince Philip, two days after his death.
On Sunday, in a statement shared on the Royal Family's Instagram account, the only daughter of Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth, 70, reflected on her father's legacy in a lengthy caption shared with a black-and-white photograph of the two.
Listen below to the episode of our daily podcast PEOPLE Every Day for continuing coverage in the wake of Prince Philip's passing.
"You know it's going to happen but you are never really ready," Anne began her statement. "My father has been my teacher, my supporter and my critic, but mostly it is his example of a life well lived and service freely given that I most wanted to emulate."
Noting that his "ability to treat every person as an individual in their own right with their own skills" came about "through all the organisations with which he was involved," Anne continued, writing, "I regard it as an honour and a privilege to have been asked to follow in his footsteps and it has been a pleasure to have kept him in touch with their activities."
Anne added: "I know how much he meant to them, in the UK, across the Commonwealth and in the wider world."
Continuing her statement, Anne also thanked supporters for their love amid a heartbreaking time for the family. "I would like to emphasise how much the family appreciate the messages and memories of so many people whose lives he also touched," she wrote. "We will miss him but he leaves a legacy which can inspire us all."
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RELATED: Princess Anne Says 'Life Will Be Completely Different' Following Father Prince Philip's Death
News of Prince Philip's death at age 99 was announced on Friday.
"It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen has announced the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh," the palace said in a statement at the time. "His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle."
The statement continued, "The Royal Family join with people around the world in mourning his loss."
The monarch, 94, will refrain from carrying out any royal duties for the next few days as she enters a mourning period. Affairs of state will also be put on pause.
RELATED VIDEO: Prince Philip Dead — the Love of Queen Elizabeth's Life Was 99
"Without him, life will be completely different," Anne said in a prerecorded interview with ITV to be broadcast when Philip died. Prince Edward also appeared in the pre-taped clip. (It aired on the day news of the Duke of Edinburgh's death was made public.)
"But from society's perspective, he was able to keep pace with the kind of technological changes that have such an impact…but above all that it's not about the technology, it's about the people," she continued.
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Anne also spoke about her father's "nomadic" childhood, settling in Paris as a child after being smuggled out of the Greek island of Corfu in a crate. Being much younger than his sisters, largely separated from his father and his mother's mental health troubles, Anne said it "must have been really quite difficult."
"He was virtually a refugee at this stage because he had nowhere else to go literally," she said, adding that eventually attending the Gordonstoun School in Moray, Scotland, made an "impact" on him.
As much as he valued his time at the boarding school, Anne added that her father valued life experience in addition to academic learning. "He believed there were things outside [of school] which were necessary to help you develop as an individual, which played to your strengths and if that weren't academic there were other things that would be your strength," she said.
Also on Sunday, Anne's brother Prince Andrew spoke about their father's death at the Royal Chapel of All Saints in Windsor Castle.
"It's a great loss. We have lost, almost, the grandfather of the nation. And I feel very sorry and supportive of my mother, who is feeling it probably more than everybody else," he said, adding that the Queen has been "contemplating, is the way I would put it. She described it as having left a huge void in her life, but we, the family, the ones that are closer, are rallying around to make sure we are there to support her."
