The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
The day Prince Philip popped in by copter
The Duke of Edinburgh revealed the boozy secrets of the Buckingham Palace dinner table during a special trip to Dundee in July 1982.
Prince Philip, who died at the age of 99 on April 9, was in the city to meet 600 Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme participants at Whitfield High School.
Prince Philip told the girls from St Leonards School in St Andrews that his favourite recipe was chocolate mousse with a “good dollop” of malt whisky added to it.
The St Leonards pupils were doing cookery as part of the scheme.
Prince Philip arrived in a flame red helicopter on the grassed playing field following a dummy which almost landed construction site.
Joe Morgan was depute rector at Whitfield High for 21 years and was the first teacher appointed to the new school which opened in August 1976.
“Maybe Whitfield was chosen because of its location at the top of a hill with nothing but farmland behind it and wide and flat playing fields,” he said.
“It was never said, but I suspect it was a good location from a security point of view. Anyway, the helicopter made a dummy run before the event.
“It came in above the playing fields where it was to land, but in fact, it hovered for what seemed an unusual length of time. run in a
“Eventually, it did land, and I spoke to the pilot.
“He said it was a most confusing experience!
“He knew where he was scheduled to land but was completely confused because of the housing estate which was being built by Barratt’s just over the school fence.
“You might remember that part of their advertising was to have, as I remember, a helipad at some of their sites, and there, just yards from his designated landing, was a huge helipad with the massive ‘H’ beckoning the poor pilot to land in the wrong place!
“Thankfully Prince Philip wasn’t on the dummy run,” added Mr Morgan.
“He got it right in the end
of course, but you can see how odd it must have looked from the air!”
Prince Philip was met by Lord Provost James Gowans and regional officials before inspecting a detachment from the Dudhope Air Training Squadron.
At the end of the visit he
met nine members of the Tayside Golds Club, whose members were those who had gained a gold award in the scheme.
He signed the school’s visitors’ book at the end of his visit and left by helicopter for Moodiesburn for a display by participants in Glasgow.
“The day was a great success for all who took part and was blessed by warm sunshine throughout the day,” said Mr Morgan.
“The duke was very impressed by the hospitality he received and got a big cheer from all of the children as he boarded the helicopter.”
Former rector Peter Murphy said Prince Philip’s visit was one of the most successful and enduring memories from his time at Whitfield High School.
“I will never forget the arrival of the helicopter and the duke’s departure at the conclusion of the day when the large contingent of pupils were able to give him an enthusiastic farewell after a most thrilling day,” he said.