He wasn’t shy about keeping Navy in line to the very last, say top brass
Former First Sea Lord recalls searching questions about warships seizing drugs in Caribbean
‘He was noted for his seamanship skills, high intellect, good judgment, strong character, zeal and great charm’
THE Duke of Edinburgh was “never shy” in mentioning what he saw as the Navy’s “failings”, the former First Sea Lord has said, as he revealed the Duke was still giving his opinion in his 90s.
Sir Mark Stanhope was the First Sea Lord when the Duke was given the title of Lord High Admiral to mark his 90th birthday in 2011.
The Queen had held the title herself since 1964, when the Navy was reorganised, but decided to bestow it upon her husband in recognition of his unwavering support.
In one conversation with the Duke, Sir Mark praised the work of the Navy warships used to interdict drug ships in the Caribbean, but his view did not meet with royal agreement.
“The drugs captured were ultimately destined for the streets of London,” Sir Mark told a special edition of BBC Radio 4’s Today programme yesterday. “His initial response to me then was really quite challenging. He countered the then-policy of such interdiction, saying it simply raised the price of drugs on the streets of London and had no longlasting effect.”
Sir Mark continued: “He had a point indeed and with his usual wry smile said: ‘We’d better move on to better things.’ I was delighted to seek calmer seas. To this day, I’m not sure if he was winding me up.”
The Duke already knew what each naval unit was doing and why it had been dispatched to a particular location when he first met with Royal Navy chiefs, Sir Mark recalled.
“I remember thinking: ‘ Why are we briefing this man? He already knows it all’,” he said.
Admiral Tony Radakin, the current First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff, also paid tribute to the Duke, describing him as a “close friend to the service for over eight decades”.
In a video message, he said he felt “immensely saddened”, and remembered the Duke’s “strong character, zeal and great charm”.
“Prince Philip retained his involvement in the Royal Navy throughout his life, through official visits, patronage and association with naval charities and clubs, and always enjoyed visiting Royal Navy establishments and ships, and especially meeting sailors and marines,” Admiral Radakin said.
“His generous spirit has delighted all aspects of the naval service, and his deep understanding of our values, standards and ethos made him such a close friend to the service for over eight decades, and he will really be deeply missed by all of us.”
He added: “Prince Philip joined Britannia Royal Naval College as a cadet in May 1939. He excelled professionally, being awarded the prize for the best cadet of his entry.
“But more importantly, that was also where he met Her Royal Highness Princess Elizabeth, as she was then.
“His long-standing commitment to the Naval Service was rewarded in 2011 when Her Majesty the Queen conferred the title and office of the Lord High Admiral to him for his 90th birthday.”
The Duke followed in the footsteps of his paternal grandfather when, in 1939, he entered the Britannia Royal Naval College as a trainee cadet at the age of 17.
After the outbreak of the Second World War, he was promoted to an appointment in the battleship HMS Ramillies, which patrolled the Indian Ocean, in 1940.
Deployments in China and Sri Lanka meant he spent the following months outside active conflict areas.
In December 1940, the Duke was appointed to HMS Valiant, which was stationed at Alexandria and fought in the Allied victory over an Italian fleet in the Battle of Cape Matapan in March 1941.
His aptitude did not go unnoticed – he was described in dispatches as an “officer of unusual promise”.
A period of training back in Britain preceded a promotion to sub-lieutenant in January 1942, a year he mostly spent trying out new measures to repel German anti-escort torpedoes.
After his 1947 marriage to Princess Elizabeth, he was later posted to Malta, where the couple lived for two years.
Despite this, said Admiral Radakin: “Prince Philip remained first and foremost a naval officer, neither seeking nor being awarded any special privileges for his position in the Royal family.”
Only in 1953, a year after the Queen’s ascension to the throne, would the Duke leave the Royal Navy after 14 years of involvement.
There was “little doubt”, Sir Mark said, that if he had remained in his position, he would have been a strong contender to become a First Sea Lord.
In addition to his more recent title of Lord High Admiral, the Duke had been appointed the Captain General of the Royal Marines in 1953.
Before retiring from royal duties in the summer of 2017, the Duke’s final official engagement was in honour of a Marines fundraiser, a fitting end not only to his time as a working royal, but also to eight decades of Navy service.
Sir Mark Carleton-Smith, Chief of the General Staff, the professional head of the Army, said the Armed Forces would remember the Duke “with respect, admiration and gratitude”.
“A Field Marshal for nearly 70 years, he held a range of colonelcies for our regiments and our corps, inspiring his units over successive generations and contributing advice and guidance during his lifetime of service,” he said. “He epitomised commitment and duty.”
Referring to his time with the Navy in the Second World War, the senior Army officer said the Duke acted as “an exemplar of that remarkable generation”.
“We will remember a dynamic, energetic and charismatic leader who gave his time and advice generously, a man who was fascinated by technology and the future, and we’ll remember him for his deep interest in our soldiers and their families, and for the example that he set of service and of duty,” he said.