How a South Pacific island came to worship Prince Philip as their true messiah
There will be few places where the Duke s loss will be felt as keenly as the island of Tanna where they prayed to him every day
18 April 2021 • 6:00am
The people of Tanna have worshipped the Duke since the Sixties
Credit: Richard Shears / Rex Features
The Duke of Edinburgh may have garnered numerous illustrious titles over his decades of service, but to a tribe on the South Pacific island of Tanna he was only ever known – and worshipped – as “The Big Man”.
For most of his public life, Prince Philip has been regarded as a living deity by a tribe living on the tiny volcanic island which is part of the Vanuatu archipelago. According to local legend, the pale-skinned son of a mountain god once ventured far away across the ocean to marry a powerful woman. In the Sixties, when Vanuatu was an Anglo-French colony known as the New Hebrides, it is believed that tribesmen would have set eyes on a
This simple pronouncement was repeated again and again at the weekend across the island. But it was spoken most eloquently by Albi, paramount chief of Yakel village. âLamopo, lamopo,â he said. I am so, so sorry.
Albi received a framed copy of the portrait of the Duke of Edinburgh released by Buckingham Palace. He held it in his hands for several minutes, motionless. No one spoke.
But his message to the Queen is that she should not despair. Her husbandâs spirit will live on.
The death of Prince Philip has had a profound effect on the island of Tanna, in the tiny south Pacific nation of Vanuatu.
The Straits Times
Pacific villagers who worship Prince Philip mull over Charles as successor
Tribesmen holding portraits of Prince Philip in Yaohnanen, on Vanuatu s Tanna island, on April 12, 2021.PHOTO: AFP
Published7 hours ago
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