South Pacific tribe preparing for return of ’god’ Prince Philip

On a remote island in the South Pacific, villagers are counting the days until they welcome their god back to his rightful home. The people of Yaohnanen on the island of Tanna believe a man descended from one of their spirit ancestors will return next month to live among them. While he was away he lived in a vast palace, but when he comes home he will sleep in a hut and hunt wild pigs with his tribe.

The man they are waiting for is the Duke of Edinburgh and they claim he promised them more than 30 years ago that he would return on June 10, his 89th birthday, to Tanna, which is part of the nation of Vanuatu. Siko Nathuan, the chief of Yaohnanen, said: “He made a promise that in 2010, on his birthday, he will arrive in Tanna. We know he is a very old man, but when he comes here he is going to be young again, and so will everyone else on the island.” Kirk Huffman, an anthropologist who has studied Vanuatu, said: “Those who are expecting something to happen will have earmarked pigs to be used in rituals. They will have been creating songs and dances to be performed whether he turns up or not.”

The villagers’ belief seems to center on a trip that the Queen and Prince Philip made in 1974 to Vanuatu aboard Britannia. Tannese legend has it that during a reception at the consulate in the capital Port Vila, the Duke shook only the hands of men from Tanna. This news reached the residents of Yaohnanen, who were waiting for a gift in return for a pig they had given to a British officer some years before. The tribe sent a letter to Port Vila, asking where their gift was and inquiring about the Duke. In response the British delivered a framed portrait of the Duke, and the worship began. The villagers sent the Duke a “nal nal” hunting club, which he duly posed with in London, sending a photograph back. He even sent the tribe a letter of condolence when their chief died last year.

All his correspondence, newspaper clippings about him and his portraits are kept in a hut that has become a shrine. Children are taught about a god who lives in England and will one day return. Mr Huffman said: “Some people might say what a load of codswallop, but they have a link with him and they have a right to revere him.” On the off chance that the Duke doesn’t make it to Tanna, Mr Huffman said: “If he doesn’t turn up, they have their own ways of explaining why not, it won’t destroy the belief.”