Like Peter van Wilder, who also worked in the Tudor court and was presumably related to him, Philip was probably born in Millam, near Wormhout, or in the nearby village of Wylder ("Wilder" in Dutch). His father may have been Mathis (Matthew) van Wilder, a lutenist from the court of Philip the Fair of Castile who also worked at the Tudor court from 1506 to 1517. It can be speculated that Peter and Philip were his two sons, and that he used his influence to secure court employment for them in England. It is not known when Philip arrived in England, but since Peter dated his residence in England from 1515, it is possible that the two travelled together. A note in Italian in the Jacobean scorebook anthology GB-Lbl Egerton 3665 describes Philip as "Master Philip of Flanders, musician to King Henry VIII, who lived in England around the year 1520". He was certainly in London by 1522, living in the parish of St Olave's Hart Street (close to the Tower of London) and having £60 "in goodes" and £48 "in fees". The court account books for the year 1525-26 describe him as "mynstrell"; he was later designated "lewter". Van Wilder steadily advanced his position at the Tudor court. By 1529 he was a member of the Privy chamber, the select group of musicians who played to the king in private. He was also active as a merchant, being given a licence to import Toulouse woad and Gascon wine, and in purchasing instruments for the court. He taught the lute to Princess (later Queen) Mary, who rewarded him with a gift on the occasion of his marriage to a woman named Frances in 1537. Later he also taught Prince Edward (later Edward VI), who wrote a letter to his father in 1546 thanking him for "sending me your servant Philip, as excellent in music as he is noble ... that I might become more excellent in striking the lute".
