South Pacific Yaohnanen Tribe Believe Duke of Edinburgh Is A God
Philip may be a duke, but to some he's a god
Squatting at the base of an enormous banyan tree, an elderly village chief holds his most prized possession between bony fingers. "Philip sent this to us," he said. "Now we have three of them."
A signed portrait of HRH the Duke of Edinburgh is an incongruous sight in the middle of a South Pacific jungle, but for this remote village in Vanuatu it is a revered part of their daily lives.
As unlikely as it sounds, the people of Yaohnanen and surrounding villages worship 85-year-old Prince Philip as a god.
They believe him to be the son of an ancient spirit who inhabits a nearby mountain on the island of Tanna.