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When Prince Philip retires other members of the royal family will "shuffle around" to take on his roles and ensure "the show goes on", Prince Edward says.
Buckingham Palace announced this week that Prince Philip would step down from all public engagements after August.
But Prince Edward, the Earl of Wessex and first royal to comment on the Duke of Edinburgh's retirement, said his father would not simply fade into the background.
"At the end of the day you still have to do what's sensible and practical and, as we all know from my father, he's extremely sensible and extremely practical," Prince Edward told Sky News.
"I think he's taken that decision and we respect that, but we're not going to see him disappearing into the background."
The announcement came after an emergency meeting of all royal staff prompted a flurry of speculation about the health of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh.
The 91-year-old Queen and the Duke, who turns 96 next month, have trimmed their workload in recent years, passing on many responsibilities to son and heir Prince Charles and grandsons Princes William and Harry, but still regularly carry out official duties.
The palace said Prince Philip would continue to be associated with the over 780 organisations he is patron, president or a member of, although he will no longer play an active role.
Prince Edward said his father's retirement was "a surprise but not really a surprise" that had opened to the door to the possibility of other royals retiring.
"Having for many years said it's a job from which you can't retire, he's just proved that actually it might be possible to retire which is quite good for the rest of us," he said.
For now though, Prince Edward said, the royal family would support one another to take on the roles left open by Prince Philip.
"It is always a team effort and that's what we do and the show goes on," he said.
"If an actor retires from a show, guess what? The show goes on, everybody shuffles around and we all fill in spaces and keep it going and that's what we all do.
"It doesn't require any massive reorganisation ... we support each other."
Prince Edward said his father's retirement was unlikely to damage his legacy.
"The great thing about my father is nobody's ever forgotten meeting him, so they've all got their stories," he said.
"Wherever he's been, wherever in the world, people still remember him and will continue to remember him.
"You can't really get a better accolade than that."
Topics: royal-and-imperial-matters, human-interest, england, united-kingdom