A LIFETIME OF DUTY
PHILIP WAS THE LONGEST-SERVING ROYAL CONSORT
The Queen’s loyal consort
Life for Elizabeth and Philip was forever changed on February 6, 1952. The couple were in Kenya on the start of a tour of the Commonwealth that was due to bring them to New Zealand when the news came through that George VI had died, and Princess Elizabeth, at the age of 26, was now Queen. It was Philip who had the task of informing his wife, and it was difficult to know who took the news hardest, said palace staff who were there that day.
Private secretary Mike Parker, who became a good friend, later recalled, “He looked as if you’d dropped half the world on him. I have never felt so sorry for anyone in all my life. He just breathed heavily, in and out, as though he were in shock. He saw immediately that the idyll of their life together had come to an end.”
He was right. From then on in,
Philip’s role was to support the Queen. Many matters were taken out of his control, and he found that hard to deal with. The worst thing was being told his children could not take his last name – they would be called Windsor, after the Queen’s family.
“I am nothing but a blood amoeba,” he protested. “I am the only man in the country not allowed to give his name to his own children.”
Philip also wanted to continue to live at Clarence House, but he was told no by the Queen’s private secretary; the monarch had to live in Buckingham Palace. It seemed like every idea he came up with was knocked back.
“Philip was constantly being squashed, snubbed, ticked off, rapped over the knuckles,” said Mike Parker. “The problem was simply that Philip had energy, ideas, get-up-and-go and that didn’t suit the establishment.
“It was bloody difficult for him. In the navy, he was in command of his own ship. At Clarence House, it was very much his show. When we got to Buckingham Palace, all of that changed.”
Another former private secretary, Sir Miles Hunt-Davies, once said of him, “In a sense, his life is very simple. It is 100% about support for the Queen. The organisation of his life is based entirely on the Queen’s programme.”
For an alpha male like Philip, taking a secondary role must have been tricky. Royal biographer Penny Junor says throughout their marriage, the duke “walked two paces behind his more-famous wife, and not
only took a back seat on every joint engagement, but was excluded from a large part of her daily routine.”
He wasn’t happy about having to give up his naval career and take on other roles. “It was not my ambition to be the president of the Mint Advisory Committee. I didn’t want to be president of WWF. I was asked to do it. I’d much rather have stayed in the navy, frankly,” he said.
He may not have initially wanted to do it, but he buckled down and worked hard, becoming involved with nearly 800 organisations, often having a hands-on role and liaising closely with staff and volunteers who ran the charities and companies.
He also proved to be an excellent consort in many respects. He was by the Queen’s side for many thousands of official duties and understood better than anyone else how she liked to work.
As Miles once pointed out, “He’ll be the one lifting children over the barrier to meet the Queen, or directing her attention to someone in the crowd or showing her something of interest which he knows she will enjoy.”
Another aide says, “He always noticed if the Queen had forgotten to talk to someone or if the conversation had been cut short or didn’t go quite right, and he would be there to take care of it.”
And some of his ideas were eventually adopted.
For example, it was his
‘The organisation of his life is based entirely on the Queen’s programme’
suggestion that the Queen regularly hold small, informal lunch parties to meet business people, actors, musicians, artists and journalists – people she would not usually get to talk to. He also came up with the idea of opening the royal palaces to the public and he initiated a training programme for footmen.
“I tried to find useful things to do,” he said once.
While the Queen got on with affairs of state, he managed the estates at Balmoral, Windsor and Sandringham, establishing sustainable farming and wildlife preservation practices. He founded the hugely successful Duke of Edinburgh awards scheme and supported hundreds of environmental and conservation causes.
The prince had a good head for technology – he owned one of the very first mobile phones and used a laptop computer long before the rest of the family. A qualified pilot, he could fly helicopters as well as planes.
He was a talented artist and equestrian and played polo until he was in his 50s. He then took up the carriage driving and ended up writing the international rule book for the sport. He represented Britain at several European and world championships and only gave up competing at 85.
Philip’s temper was legendary and he had a reputation for being outspoken and sometimes downright rude. He did not suffer fools. But he was also a passionate campaigner, a tireless speaker and an ultimate professional. He was always on time and he worked extremely hard. He was renowned for being politically incorrect and put his foot in his mouth on numerous occasions.
In private, it was always
Philip who wore the trousers, for example when making decisions about the children and their educations. But his wife was more than capable of standing up for herself – she would tell him to “shut up” if he moaned about her paying more attention to the dogs than him or spending too much time on the phone. On one occasion, she locked herself in her cabin on the royal yacht Britannia, declaring, “I’m simply not going to appear until Philip is in a better temper.”
But their marriage was a success because they understood each other, had mutual respect and were “good for one another”, as a friend put it.
When they celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in 1997, the Queen gave a heartfelt speech about Philip.
“He is someone who doesn’t take easily to compliments but he has, quite simply, been my strength and stay all these years and I, and his whole family, and this, and many other countries, owe him a debt of gratitude greater than he would ever claim, or we shall ever know.” #
‘I tried to find useful things to do’