'Heck of a guy': World leaders offer tributes for Prince Philip

Prince Philip, who was Queen Elizabeth's husband for more than seven decades and helped to modernize the British monarchy and steer the royal family through repeated crises, died on Friday. He was 99.

The Duke of Edinburgh, as he was officially known, had been by his wife's side throughout her 69-year reign, the longest in British history. During that time he earned a reputation for a tough, no-nonsense attitude and a propensity for occasional gaffes.

Flags at Buckingham Palace and at government buildings across Britain were lowered to half-mast and members of the public laid flowers outside Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace.