From royal outsider to pillar of the nation: the remarkable life of the Duke of Edinburgh
SIR – The death of the Duke of Edinburgh has left a gap that will be felt enormously by the Queen, the Royal family, the country, the Commonwealth, and the many nations he visited and got to know.
As a foreign-born prince and an outsider, he set a fine example with the way he embraced his new life in the Royal family. He gave up his career and with dignity accepted his role as a husband supporting the monarch.
He had great intelligence, and his contribution to matters of the environment, wildlife conservation and the development and motivation of young people was driven by a desire to see change for the better.
He may have been outspoken, but that was just one part of the man who was admired by so many. I hope that his legacy will continue with those who remain responsible for supporting the Queen.
Gavin Howard
Warminster, Wiltshire
SIR – Ave atque vale. Paul McClory
Oxford
SIR – Although a republican, I shall miss the Duke of Edinburgh. He was an example to the rest of us and an impossible act to follow.
The Queen deserves our sympathy for her loss, and gratitude for her unique double act with the Duke on the world stage for nearly 70 years. Dominic Shelmerdine
London SW3
SIR – How very sad that the Duke of Edinburgh should have died so close to his 100th birthday.
Having twice been president of the MCC, it would have been so nice if he had managed just one more single to get to a very well-deserved ton.
Kim Potter
Lambourn, Berkshire
SIR – One of the greatest assets of the Duke of Edinburgh was that “he suffered fools badly”.
The world remains full of such fools. Who will challenge them now?
Paul Strong
Claxby, Lincolnshire
SIR – Prince Philip’s humour, which could instantly put the most nervous person at ease, has been described by some mirthless journalists as resulting in “gaffes”. I know who I would rather have spent time with.
Brian Christley
Abergele, Conwy
SIR – When Prince Philip met Thurgood Marshall, an American Supreme Court Justice, he mischievously inquired: “Would you like to know what I think about lawyers?” Marshall, flash-quick and twinkly eyed, retorted: “Only if you’d like to know what I think about princes.”
Everyone, it seems, has something to say about princes these days (we might call it the “Oprah Effect”).
To many of my fellow millennials, Prince Philip occupied the status of a fusty relic: the royal embodiment of bygone eras and fallen empires. But we do ourselves a disservice if righteous indignation over un-PC gaffes or ill-advised outbursts become the focus of our reflections.
We may do better embracing the preferred spirit of Marshall’s predecessor, Learned Hand, of “that … which is not too sure it is right”. We might ask ourselves if we would so selflessly sacrifice a career, all semblance of normality, a whole life, in unwavering dedication to a country and its people: whether we could be too sure we would answer if called.
In that spirit, Prince Philip is an example to us all.
Greig Lamont
London E2
SIR – I was an early participant in the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme, and received my Gold Award from him at Buckingham Palace in the 1960s.
Of course this in itself was a great honour, but the skills I learnt through the scheme have endured throughout my life.
I trust it will continue, so that my grandchildren and many others can enhance their lives by participation, and as a lasting tribute to the man. Alan Belk
Leatherhead, Surrey
SIR – As far as the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award is concerned, I believe the only member of the Royal family capable of taking this on is Prince Harry.
It would keep him in the working circles of the family; he is probably the member most connected to the youth of today; and his military background means he is ideally suited to the role. Stuart Moss
London SW18
SIR – I met Prince Philip 18 years ago. He was charming, and very interested in my stories of touring British Columbia playing sixth-form rugby as we wandered through the gardens of Buckingham Palace towards a tent I wasn’t allowed in.
It was only a short encounter, but it felt like he had endless time for our conversation, and I got the impression he was a man who genuinely enjoyed this part of his job.
Ed Couchman
Sevenoaks, Kent
SIR – In 1956, we took our family summer holiday on Anglesey.
Approaching the Menai Straits bridge, we had a puncture. We children, aged six and four, stayed in the car with our mother while Dad changed the wheel.
A Land Rover with two men inside stopped. One got out and asked Dad if he could help. Dad thanked him without looking up, saying that he’d
almost finished. The man spoke briefly to my mother through the open window of the car before driving off.
It was the Duke of Edinburgh. My parents never forgot this act of kindness.
Martin Tooley
Southampton
SIR – I organised scores of events with the Duke of Edinburgh over the last 10 years. He was chairman and then patron of Outward Bound, all the way from 1953 to 2019. He was a fundraiser’s dream, and was delighted to help us in any way possible – including arranging dinners with Tom Cruise, Eric Clapton and Carole King.
What people don’t know is that every single year he made time in his diary to visit an Outward Bound centre. No press was allowed: it was just the Duke, some staff and the young people at the centre.
He spent hours talking to everyone and even participating in some of the activities – even in his 90s. He did this every year, from 1953 until his retirement.
Alan Bolchover
Director of Fundraising, Outward Bound Trust
London SE18
SIR – In 1996 I was fortunate enough to meet Prince Philip during the royal visit to the Chelsea flower show.
When the Queen and the Prince arrived at the show garden we had sponsored, the Prince looked at me and asked why we had a shed at the back of the garden.
I pointed out politely that it was not a shed but a 250-year-old log cabin from above the Arctic Circle in Finland that had been carefully dismantled, shipped over and reassembled to add authenticity to our garden.
The Prince looked me straight in the eyes and said: “Well, it looks like a shed to me.”
Richard Dalgleish
Newbury, Berkshire
SIR – My husband was a partner in the consulting engineering firm which constructed a bridge to carry the Metro railway over the River Tyne.
As they were following the Queen, after the formal opening and presentation, the Duke of Edinburgh leaned forward and muttered to my husband: “Why didn’t you build a tunnel?”
Dinah McIlroy
Alnwick, Northumberland
SIR – The Queen’s decision to obey the Covid rules and keep Prince Philip’s funeral a low-key affair is totally correct and praiseworthy.
He did not want a fuss and he would be proud of her.
Mick Ferrie
Mawnan Smith, Cornwall
SIR – How sensible of the Royal family to ask that people send a donation in memory of the Duke instead of wasting money by laying bouquets wrapped in plastic on the pavement just to wither and create litter.
I cannot forget the huge ocean of plastic outside Kensington Palace after Princess Diana’s death. The Duke felt strongly for the environment.
Wendy Breese
Lingfield, Surrey
SIR – Surely the best tribute and memorial to the Duke of Edinburgh would be for the UK to commission a new Royal Yacht, and to name it in his honour.
This would reflect his lifelong devotion to the Queen and his country, as well as celebrating his love of the sea and all things naval.
Bevan Smedley
Winchester, Hampshire
SIR – Joyce Twiston Davies’s proposal to create a forest in memory of the Duke of Edinburgh (Letters, April 10) is inspired.
It would be a practical and fitting tribute to the man – and a lasting legacy.
Bill Heelan
Stanion, Northamptonshire
SIR – I was very sorry to hear about the death of Prince Philip.
Was it really necessary, though, for the BBC to close down BBC1 and BBC2 for the whole day so that they could provide exactly the same news coverage? I accept that the BBC is our national broadcaster, but it did seem a bit much.
Jeffrey W Cave
Hatfield, Hertfordshire
SIR – While I am very sad that the Duke of Edinburgh, whom I admired very much, has died, I do wonder why we have had wall-to-wall media coverage for hour after hour, with the same thing being repeated over and over again.
One morning in 1952, when I was a young boy growing up in Nottingham, my mother switched on the radio, which was usually tuned to the Home Service, to find that there was no sound. We were having some electrical work done in the house at the time, and when the electrician arrived that day, my mother asked him if he would mind looking at the radio and trying to fix it. He turned it on, and said to my mother: “Nowt wrong wi’ radio. King’s dead”.
For the rest of the day, there was complete radio silence. Oh, that we could go back to those days.
Michael Lavelle
Scaynes Hill, West Sussex
SIR – I suspect that Prince Philip would be pleased to see reports of his “death” rather than his “passing”.
He might not have been born English but he certainly spoke the language clearly.
Bernard Kerrison
London SW4