Prince Philip mourned by a Vanuatu tribe, which held him at the centre of an ancient prophecy

As Prince Philip’s body now lies in rest at Windsor Castle, thousands of kilometres away in the Pacific there are some who believe that his spirit will now return to them.

For decades, people in several small villages on the Vanuatu island of Tanna have revered the Duke of Edinburgh, believing the prince was the physical representation of an ancient warrior leader.

“He is the spirit of kastom so we pray through the sacred kava ritual,” a spokesman for Yaohnanen village,…