FAREWELL TO THE DUKE OF EDINBURGH
Prince Philip, famous for his gaffes, said he had no desire to reach the age of 100
IT has been well documented that Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, “couldn't imagine anything worse” than turning 100. He was quoted as saying that in an interview with The Telegraph in 2000 when speaking on the subject of the Queen Mother’s 100th birthday. He had said he had “no desire whatsoever” to reach the same age.
On Friday, April 9, the man who had been the British monarch’s rock for 73 years, passed away at the age of 99, two months short of the age when, like other British citizens, he would have received the customary 100-year congratulatory message from the monarch.
Prince Philip, who had been in poor health since the beginning of the year and spent about a month in hospital in February, died peacefully at Windsor Castle with his wife, Queen Elizabeth II, by his side. He was said to be the longest-serving royal consort in British history, being by the queen’s side for more than her six-decade reign.
During my 40 years of covering events in the United Kingdom, coverage of events involving the monarchs was rare and far in between, and even when invited, such as during the state visits of our own monarchs, it was very rare that we could be at close range to the royal party.
However, early in the 1980s, I was fortunate enough to be invited to the queen’s summer garden party, and that was where I had my one and only chance to see the queen and her husband speak to those introduced to them.
The prince’s reputation, had by then, preceded him. I had read about the man walking by the queen’s side, about his unscripted gaffes, outspoken remarks and comments that would steal the queen’s thunder, and needless to say, shock the public.
I had been expecting one of his gems, but I guess I was lucky that I didn’t hear any on that occasion.
Yes, Prince Philip was famously known for putting his foot in his mouth, and no one was spared; from celebrities like Tom Jones whom he had asked if the Welsh singer gargled with pebbles, to his hosts during visits to various countries like Thailand, Canada and China.
One of his famous gaffes was during a visit to China in 1986, when he met British students studying Mandarin there. He was reported as saying: “If you stay here much longer, you’ll all be slitty-eyed.”
Apparently his quip caused more furore in the UK than in China, giving subs a fun day with headlines, such as “Philip gets it all Wong” and “The Great Wally of China”.
After receiving a gift from a local woman in Kenya in 1984, he asked her: “You are a woman, aren’t you?”
And to an aborigine entrepreneur in Australia, he wanted to know whether they still threw spears at each other.
The prince had accompanied the queen several times on visits to Malaysia. Luckily nothing untoward was heard.
Apparently, not even members of his own family were spared from his often ghastly remarks.
If one unconfirmed report was to be believed, he even shouted from the deck of the Britannia in Belize in 1994, to the queen who was chatting to her hosts on the quayside: ”Yak, yak, yak. Come on, get a move on.”
On seeing the plans for the Duke and Duchess of York’s house at Sunninghill Park in 1988, he remarked: “It looks like a tart’s bedroom.”
In 1974, a gunman attempted to kidnap his daughter, Princess Anne, and Prince Philip had this to say: “If the man had succeeded in abducting Anne, she would have given him a hell of a time while in captivity.”
On another occasion, he referred to her interest in a marriage partner by saying: “If it doesn’t fart or eat hay, she’s not interested.”
Fewer public appearances during the last few years because of his failing health, meant less controversial comments being reported. He retired from public life in August 2017.
Prince Philip had a lot of say in the organisation of his own funeral. He wanted minimal fuss.
And indeed, the lockdown and the pandemic saw to it that there will be no large state affair usually associated with the death of a monarch. He will not lie in state where the public would have been able to view his coffin. Instead, he will lie at rest at Windsor Castle, where he died.
The Union Jack and national flags will fly at half-mast on all government buildings and there will be a 41-gun salute across the UK and in Gibraltar.
Even the black cabbies have shown their respects by lining up their taxies along the mall leading to Buckingham Palace.
The question on everyone’s mind now is will the death of one of the royal family’s pillar of strength heal the rift with the return of his favourite grandson from America? Only time will tell and who knows, it could again prove to be Prince Philip’s way of doing things his way.