Prince Philip Movement
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The Prince Philip Movement is a cargo cult of the Yaohnanen tribe on the southern island of Tanna in Vanuatu.
The Yaohnanen believe that Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, the consort to Queen Elizabeth II, is a divine being, the pale-skinned son of a mountain spirit and brother of John Frum. According to ancient tales the son travelled over the seas to a distant land, married a powerful lady and would in time return. The villagers had observed the respect accorded to Queen Elizabeth II by colonial officials and came to the conclusion that her husband, Prince Philip, must be the son from their legends. When the cult formed is unclear, but it is likely that it was sometime in the 1950s or 1960s. Their beliefs were strengthened by the royal couple's official visit to Vanuatu in 1974 when a few villagers had the opportunity to observe the prince from afar. At the time the Prince was not aware of the cult, but the matter was eventually brought to his attention by John Champion, the British Resident Commissioner in Vanuatu between 1975 and 1978. The Resident Commissioner suggested that the Prince send them a portrait of himself. A signed official photograph was duly dispatched. The villagers responded by sending a traditional nal-nal club. As requested the Prince in return sent them a photograph of himself posing with the weapon. Another photograph was sent in 2000. All three photographs are currently kept by Chief Jack Naiva.[1][2]
On September 27, 2007, British television station Channel 4 broadcast Meet the Natives, a reality show about five Tanna natives of the Prince Philip Movement on a visit to Britain; their visit culminated in an off-screen audience with Philip, where gifts were exchanged, including a new photograph of the prince.[3]
In his novel Raga, JMG Le Clezio argues that the cult of Prince Philip has more to do with freeing themselves from the colonial power, than to gain material wealth as suggested by others concerning Cargo cults. Hopes during the visit of the Prince in Vanuatu 1974 was that he would stay on the island as a sacrifice to create justice for the numerous kidnappings of workers in the past.[4]
[edit] References
- ^ Shears, Richard. Is Prince Philip a god?, Mail on Sunday, 3 June 2006, downloaded 2007-02-15.
- ^ Squires, Nick (27 February 2007). "South Sea tribe prepares birthday feast for their favourite god, Prince Philip". Daily Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/02/19/wphilip19.xml.
- ^ Hoggart, Paul. Meet the Natives1, Broadcast 11 September 2007
- ^ Le Clezio, J.M.G. Raga. Approche du continent invisible. Éditions du Seuil, 2006.
[edit] External links
- Squires, Nick. Prince Philip, they hardly know ye, Christian Science Monitor, 8 June 2007, accessed 7 June 2007
- Squires, Nick. Is Prince Philip an island god?, BBC News, 10 June 2007, accessed 10 June 2007
- Adams, Guy. Strange island: Pacific tribesmen come to study Britain, The Independent, 20 November 2007
