HOUSTON — Prince Phillip, who died Friday at the age of 99, visited Houston three times through the years.
His last and most memorable trip was with Queen Elizabeth in 1991.
The royal couple made a whirlwind three-day trip through the Lone Star State with stops in Austin, San Antonio, Dallas and Houston.
Space City welcomed Queen Elizabeth and Philip with a parade at Houston City Hall. It was a rainy day, but that didn’t stop thousands of Houstonians from lining the streets and watching from multi-level parking garages. The royals were protected from the downpour under an awning where they sat alongside Mayor Kathy Whitmire.
Before leaving city hall, the couple chatted with first graders from Westlawn Elementary in LaMarque. The children had written to the queen inviting her to their school.
After that, it was off to the historic Antioch Baptist Church where Queen Elizabeth and Philip were treated to a lively gospel concert by two choirs. "They were tapping their feet," and the queen called the uniquely American music “nice,” according to AP.
They also toured the brand new Veterans Affairs Medical Center and met veterans from Desert Storm and World War II.
"She's more attractive than I thought," said 22-year-old Army Spec. Delman Orme, recovering from a head injury suffered in Kuwait. "I thought the Majesty was very pretty for her age."
While the queen met briefly with Orme at the veterans hospital, Prince Philip traded Navy stories with Edd Athon, a Navy Air Corps tailgunner in World War II.
The next stop was Johnson Space Center where the royals viewed exhibits of space suits, space food and robots and toured Mission Control, where U.S. spaceflights are commanded.
The Houston visit wrapped up with a private dinner at the Museum of Fine Arts where the queen bestowed an honorary knighthood on Cecil H. Green of Dallas.
That was was Queen Elizabeth’s first and only time in Texas, but Prince Philip had been to Houston twice before.
In 1982, he toured the Armand Bayou Nature Center before speaking at a rainforest symposium here.
Back in 1966, Prince Philip’s passion for space travel likely inspired his first visit to Houston’s Johnson Space Center.
A pilot himself until the age of 76, Philip met Lt. Col. Edward H. White, the first American to walk in space during the Gemini 4 mission.
The prince also seemed fascinated during a tour by Gemini flight director Christopher C. Kraft who explained how space flights are controlled. Philip enjoyed a simulated flight on a Gemini spacecraft used to train astronauts.
He later stopped by the Variety Boys Center and played Chinese checkers with some of the kids before boarding a flight to Dallas.