Cargo cults view the Prince as a God

There is a prophecy in ancient Yaohnanen lore, which predicts that the son of a mountain spirit will venture abroad and marry a powerful woman. The prophecy further states that this spirit would eventually return to the Yaohnanen people. The Yaohnanen tribesmen believe that this mountain spirit is Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. The presence of troops in the Pacific due to the Second World War was viewed as an indication of the Apocalypse. This appears to have given credence to an earlier 'John Frum Movement', dating from the 1930s. The John Frum Movement and the Prince Philip Movement appear to have combined in the 1950s or 1960s.^[1] Based on this, it is likely that the presence of US troops prompted the people on Tanna to deify Prince Philip. According to one theory, the fact that the British Colonial Administration spoke in such high terms of the Queen and Prince Philip resulted in the people on Tanna associating Prince Philip with the mountain spirit from the prophecy. The people on Tanna also believe that Prince Philip works in mysterious ways to benefit the Island. They often attribute anything good that happens on Tanna to the mystical work of Prince Philip. Even the increase in interracial marriage both on Tanna and in other places has been accredited to the Prince. ^[2]

[1] In ancient Yaohnanen lore there is a mountain spirit who travelled abroad and married a powerful woman. [2] Troops arriving in the Pacific in the Second World War was viewed as a sign of the Apocalypse. [3] The respect with which the Queen and Prince Philip were spoken of by the Colonial Administration was seen by the people on Tanna as a sign that Prince Philip was this mountain spirit and the Queen his powerful wife.