Prince Philip the Duke of Edinburgh has passed away this morning

[Ariadne22]

Frail shouldn't matter a whole lot at this point - again imho. Even young women get helped from their cars. The Palace went a bit too far in its Covid protocol, imo. Surely one of the male grandchildren (not William or Harry) could have served - or one of the newly acquired grand-sons-in-law. Anne's son would have done very well. He is a nice looking fellow and not apt to garner much tabloid chatter.

[schmave]

Originally Posted by BJW50

I’ve heard that the family thought maybe he wouldn’t have smoked so much had he been able to be just the brother of the king

That's my understanding from all I've read over the years as well. His life would have been much less stressful, and on top of that he wasn't groomed to be king like the Duke of Windsor.
The Duke and Duchess' relationship with the family in that era and the ramifications of that decision are fascinating to read about. Elizabeth II still would have become queen, just likely not as soon as she did.