Funny, fast-living flirt whose humour put shy Queen at ease… we celebrate Prince Philip’s remarkable life of service in pictures as he retires from duties
PRINCE PHILIP has been at the heart of royal life for 70 years.
A constant by the Queen’s side, the sometimes gaffe-prone Duke of Edinburgh has supported Her Majesty through good times and bad, at joyful times of births and the sadness of deaths and on thousands of royal engagements.
As he announces his well-earned retirement from royal duties, a month before his 96th birthday, we celebrate his remarkable life of service in this special picture tribute.
IT might have been just another dry royal visit but 13-year-old Princess Elizabeth was smitten by the handsome “Viking” naval cadet showing her family around the Royal Naval College at Dartmouth.
For 18-year-old Philip Mountbatten, a life of royal service was on the cards.
Now, as he prepares to retire from royal duties, he can look back on 70 years of being the rock on which the Queen’s astonishing reign has been built.
He has come to be known for his gruff and rude persona but it hides a personality that is quick, intelligent and fiercely loyal to his wife, for whom he gave up the naval career he loved.
Prince Philip was the original house husband — he was present at the birth of Prince Edward in 1964, brought up the royal children, made the decisions about their education and ran the royal estates for the Queen and, right from their earliest days together, he has been her invaluable supporter.
With no template for the consort’s role he had to play, Philip’s view has always been: “I just tried to find useful things to do.”
They lived a carefree life when Philip was a Royal Navy officer, including being based in Malta. But it had to come to an end.
The Princess was just 25 when she became Queen in 1952, much earlier than she or her husband of five years had been prepared to be thrust into such a role.
But while Elizabeth took centre stage, Philip was constantly there for her in the wings.
'Throughout he has been a constant strength and guide'
HER Majesty paid tribute to the vital role Prince Philip has played in her life during a landmark address to both Houses of Parliament in 2012.
In the well-received speech, given as part of her Diamond Jubilee celebrations, she said: “During these years as your Queen, the support of my family has, across the generations, been beyond measure.
“Prince Philip is, I believe, well-known for declining compliments of any kind.
“But throughout he has been a constant strength and guide.”
He has always known how shy the Queen is and on the occasion of her first TV broadcast she froze and nothing the producer could do would relax her.
Philip came up with the idea of standing behind the cameras and making her laugh, reminding her of a time he was chasing her along a corridor while wearing a huge set of false teeth. At the memory of this silliness she relaxed just as the cameras were rolling.
Prince Philip’s humble beginnings — being born on a dining room table on the Greek island of Corfu — belie his truly royal genes.
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His English-born mother, Princess Alice of Battenburg, was a great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria. His father, Prince Andrew, was the stylish and somewhat raffish son of the King of Greece. Philip inherited his flaxen hair from his mother and his love of the ridiculous from his father.
The young Philip was brought up to have perfect English manners by his Nanny Roose, who saw to it that her young charge had the latest in fashionable babywear sent from England despite the family’s lack of funds.
Stunning Princess Alice had been born with a severe hearing impediment but could lip-read in four languages. Philip became a proficient linguist and a clown who loved showing off to make his mother laugh.
He used to stand on his head for visitors and despite his rootless beginnings when the family were forced to flee Greece, settled happily in exile in Paris and refused to let his lack of family stability affect him. (His mother went into hospital suffering from schizophrenia and his father left for the Riviera.)
He had four older sisters who worshipped him, and his closeness to them helped him grow up with a unique understanding of women. They conversed in Greek, German, French and English.
With his Nordic good looks and his sense of humour, as well as his glamorous European persona, Philip had girls flocking to his side.
After he finished school, first in Paris then boarding school at Cheam, Surrey, and eventually Gordonstoun, Moray, he spent summers travelling from his sisters’ castles in Germany (they had all married German aristocrats) to his extensive European relations’ villas.
He was always the most handsome boy but he was also charming and, perhaps thanks to Nanny Roose, had a well-developed sense of right and wrong.
On one occasion he was in the company of some of his European cousins and they were handing out presents. One child was left out as she was disabled and the others decided she didn’t need toys.
Philip was outraged and returned with his pile of toys, with his latest acquisition on the top, and deposited them at her feet.
He met the Queen at a wedding when she was 12 but the first real recollection they have of meeting each other was at that Royal Naval College visit when Philip was assigned to escort 13-year-old Princess Elizabeth and her little sister, Princess Margaret.
He recalls telling Elizabeth that she was so shy he couldn’t get a word out of her. She recalls him wolfing down a plate of shrimps as if he had never seen food before. It was not the most romantic of beginnings but as they were cousins Philip was in and out of the young princess’s life.
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He was something of a James Bond character in the Forties. He loved fast cars, fast women and flirting with danger. But he had a gentle side to him which prevented him from being a philanderer. He was, according to one admirer, “gay, debonair and confident”. It was the latter which was so irresistible to women. One of his first girlfriends, Osla Benning, was a Canadian-born debutante, who fell in love with the handsome naval officer.
They exchanged letters but once Philip started to spend time at Windsor Castle and set his sights on the young Princess Elizabeth, their relationship faded.
All the ladies Philip admired were young and beautiful. Society types such as Sacha Abercorn, actress Pat Kirkwood and singer Helen Cordet were among many linked to him. Even his cousin Princess Alexandra and long-time carriage-driving companion Lady Brabourne are included.
Philip prefers the company of women. He is a brilliant dancer, witty and funny — and flirtatious.
The late Margaret Rhodes, the Queen’s cousin and one of her oldest friends, thought the Queen had been hurt by his flirtations.
She once said: “The Queen has been very wounded by hearing and reading of Philip and women. I think honestly it must have hurt her terribly, especially as she is a one-man woman who has never looked at anyone else.”
Princess Elizabeth’s father, King George VI’s private secretary Sir Tommy Lascelles, doubted Philip’s ability to stay faithful, and the Queen Mother had written to her new son-in-law asking for his assurance that he would “cherish” her daughter.
He replied that he had “fallen in love completely and unreservedly” and promised that his ambition was to weld the two of them into a team that would be able to withstand all shocks directed at them.
He has been true to his word.
Nowadays the Queen loves having pretty women around to distract Philip. She is secure in his love and loyalty and knows if he is happy, his mood will be infectious and make things much more pleasant for everybody.
After the shock of her father’s premature death in 1952, the Queen had to allow Philip to take over some of her motherly duties. More sensitive than his abrasive image suggests, Philip took a concerned interest in the births and upbringing of all his children.
He was at the Queen’s side for the birth of fourth child Edward in 1964. It was the first time in modern history that any royal father had been allowed at a birth.
When he found protocol meant his children would bear the name Windsor, rather than Mountbatten, he told the Queen furiously: “I am the only man in the country not allowed to give his name to his children. I’m nothing but a bloody amoeba.”
But he gritted his teeth and got on with it.
Prince Edward was born in the bathroom of the Belgian Suite in Buckingham Palace, which had been converted into a delivery suite. The delivery was slower than they might have hoped for. Philip’s good humour proved so valuable as he chided the five doctors and two midwives.
“It’s a solemn thought that only a week ago General de Gaulle was having a bath in this room,” he said when he walked into the bathroom and saw their glum faces.
It was said in a jocular way which immediately helped ease the tension. That was, and still is, Prince Philip’s way of dealing with potentially tricky situations.
Behind the scenes he has always proved a role model for his children and was a trusted confidante to Princess Diana, who called him “Pa”.
He helped the Queen through her grief when her mum and sister died in 2002, her Golden Jubilee year.
For her Diamond Jubilee it was Philip’s turn to need support when he was taken ill. When he was taken to hospital from Windsor Castle, the Queen looked at him and said: “Don’t you die on me.”
Ever supportive throughout the milestone celebrations, he replied: “Of course I won’t. Not until this is all over anyway!”
His loyalty was and is to the Queen and the institution of the monarchy. That will not change and she will still have his support from behind the scenes — where it always has been.
— Ingrid Seward is Editor-in-Chief of Majesty Magazine and author of The Queen’s Speech, published by Simon & Schuster.
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