It wasn’t Philip who was livid with Edward for quitting the Marines — it was the Queen . . .
When it comes to his sons, it would be easy to think that the macho Duke of edinburgh has most in common with Prince Andrew. After all, it was Andrew, his third-born son, who risked his life in the Falklands war as a Royal navy helicopter pilot — just as Philip had risked his own as a naval officer during World War II.
But the boy closest to the Duke’s heart is his youngest; the one who chose to work in the arty world of television and — much to the dismay of the Queen — dropped out of the Royal Marines.
On top of that, he had to face unfounded rumours that he was gay. So it’s perhaps little wonder that few realise just how close he’s always been to his parents — particularly his father.
Interestingly, Philip didn’t press edward into joining the Services. he wanted the young prince to go into accountancy, or at the very least take a management training course. But his son wasn’t interested in these careers, which was perhaps just as well. Some in the royal circle regarded the
very idea as outre, as any ‘trade’ had long been looked down on by the upper classes — not that this was ever going to influence Philip’s judgment. But even he had to acknowledge that his son’s royal status might give him an unfair advantage.
In any case, what Edward really wanted to do, since the age of ten, was to make the Royal Marines his full-time career.
In this, he may well have been motivated by the desire to go one better than his brothers, who’d served in the Royal Navy.
So it was a huge surprise when Edward decided to quit the Marines in 1987, just four months after starting. Each of his siblings was horrified and tried to persuade him to stay on. As for the Queen, her initial shock quickly turned to icy-cold regal displeasure, while the Queen Mother felt her grandson’s decision smacked of dereliction of duty.
And Philip? Given his action-man image and his well-earned reputation for irascibility, many people assumed he was outraged.
Stories soon spread that harsh words had been exchanged between father and son; even that Edward had been reduced to tears by his father’s anger. It was a potent image that grew in the retelling.
The truth was quite the opposite: of all the Royal Family, Philip was in fact the most sympathetic. He understood his son’s decision, which he considered a brave one, and supported him fully.
Edward had explained to him that he felt he was never going to be able to fit in as well as he’d hoped. ‘I was always going to have a policeman there,’ he said. ‘I could never go out with the rest of the lads into the town, as everyone knew who I was. I didn’t see the way, really, it was going to work.’