A TALE OF TWO TRIBUTES
Wills and Harry praise Duke in their own words
PRINCE William and Prince Harry put aside their animosity to pay a co-ordinated tribute to their grandfather yesterday.
William, 38, described the Duke of Edinburgh as an ‘extraordinary man’, spoke of how touched he was by his kindness to Kate and vowed to ‘get on with the job’ as Philip would have wanted.
Harry light-heartedly summed up his grandfather as ‘master of the barbecue, legend of banter, and cheeky right ’til the end’.
The royal brothers are the first of Philip’s grandchildren to honour his memory publicly, after his four children each paid tribute at the weekend.
Their statements were released independently. William’s was issued by Kensington Palace, Harry’s was posted on the website home page of his new US-based organisation, Archewell.
But there was a sign the estranged brothers are at least willing to put disagreements aside for the sake of their grandfather’s memory by co-ordinating the release of their tributes via Buckingham Palace.
William’s tribute was issued at 2pm, followed by Harry’s at 2.30pm. Praising his grandfather’s sense of duty and service, William, who is at his Anmer Hall home in Norfolk with his family, said: ‘My grandfather’s century of life was defined by service – to his country and Commonwealth, to his wife and Queen, and to our family.’
He also alluded to the support that Philip had given him in the dark days following the death of his mother in 1997.
Philip took William and Harry under his wing at Balmoral, taking them out
‘You never knew what he’d say next’
stalking and shooting, and offering to walk beside them behind their mother’s funeral cortege.
‘I feel lucky to have not just had his example to guide me, but his enduring presence well into my own adult life – both through good times and the hardest days,’ William said.
And he made a point of singling out how kind Philip had been to his wife Kate. He made clear that he and his wife intended to follow in his footsteps by supporting the Queen and devoting themselves to their public duties.
‘My grandfather was an extraordinary man and part of an extraordinary generation,’ William wrote. ‘Catherine and I will continue to do what he would have wanted and will support the Queen in the years ahead. I will miss my Grandpa, but I know he would want us to get on with the job.’
Harry, who enjoyed an equally warm relationship with their grandfather, described him as a man of ‘service, honour, and great humour’.
He wrote: ‘He was authentically himself, with a seriously sharp wit, and could hold the attention of any room due to his charm – and also because you never knew what he might say next.’
The prince, 36, said his grandfather would be remembered as the longest reigning consort in British history, ‘a decorated serviceman, a prince and a duke’ adding: ‘But to me... he was my grandpa: master of the barbecue, legend of banter and cheeky right ’til the end.’ In a nod to Philip’s well-known impatience, Harry added: ‘He has been a rock for Her Majesty The Queen with unparalleled devotion, by her side for 73 years of marriage, and while I could go on, I know that right now he would say to all of us, beer in hand, “Oh do get on with it!”
‘So, on that note, Grandpa, thank you for your service, your dedication to Granny, and for always being yourself.’
Harry said he, Meghan, Archie – and Philip’s future great-granddaughter they are expecting this summer – will ‘always hold a special place for you in our hearts’.
He concluded with the Latin motto of the Royal Marines, ‘Per Mare, Per Terram’, meaning ’by sea, by land’. Philip was, for 64 years, Captain General of the Royal Marines, a role he handed down to Harry when he retired in 2017. Although the role was initially held in abeyance after Harry and Meghan announced their plans to quit royal duties, the Queen decided she had no choice but to ask him to give it up this year. Harry was said to be deeply angered by the decision.
Yesterday the Daily Mail revealed how Philip regretted his grandson’s decision to quit royal life and thought it was ‘not the right thing either for the country or themselves’.
He thought their decision to do a tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey was ‘madness’ and that ‘no good would come of it’.
But biographer Gyles Brandreth said Philip also believed Harry was a ‘good man’ who had to live his own life.