Prince William honors Prince Philip: ‘An extraordinary man’

Prince William is offering his first remarks about the death of Prince Philip, saying although he mourns the loss of his grandfather, Philip would “want us to get on with the job.”

In a statement released Monday, William praised Philip for having a life “defined by service” to his “country and Commonwealth, to his wife and Queen, and to our family.”

“I feel lucky to have not just had his example to guide me, but his enduring presence well into my own adult life — both through good times and the hardest days,” William, who is second in line to the throne after his father, Prince Charles, said.

“I will always be grateful that my wife had so many years to get to know my grandfather and for the kindness he showed her,” the 38-year-old royal family member, who married wife Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, in 2011.

William also shared a previously unreleased photo of his young son, Prince George, with Philip snapped by his wife in 2015.

“I will never take for granted the special memories my children will always have of their great-grandpa coming to collect them in his carriage and seeing for themselves his infectious sense of adventure as well as his mischievous sense of humor!” William said in a message posted on the royal family’s social media accounts.

Saying he will miss his grandfather, William described Philip as “an extraordinary man and part of an extraordinary generation.”

“Catherine and I will continue to do what he would have wanted and will support The Queen in the years ahead,” he said.

Philip, the patriarch of Britain’s royal family, and husband to Queen Elizabeth II, died Friday at the age of 99.