Holyrood party leaders pay tribute to ‘extraordinary life’ of Duke

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has led tributes at Holyrood to the Duke of Edinburgh following his "extraordinary life".

Ms Sturgeon described Philip, who died on Friday, as being a "thoughtful man, deeply interesting and fiercely intelligent".

She added that he was "also a serious bookworm", saying thatdiscussionswithhimabout books were "often for me a real highlightofourconversations".

The First Minister spoke out as Holyrood was recalled for the sixth time in its history to pay tribute to the Duke with a special motion of condolence.

Political parties in Scotland suspended campaigning after his death and, on Monday, MSPS stood for a minute's silence before party leaders paid their own tributes to him.

Serving in the Second World War he "endured difficulties and faced dangers that generations since can barely comprehend", Ms Sturgeon said.

She added that after marrying the then Princess Elizabeth "he faced the additional challenge of being the husband of a powerful woman, at a time when that was even more of an exception than it is today".

Scottish Conservative Holyrood leader, Ruth Davidson, saidmostpeoplewouldthinkof Philip as "an elderly man" who was "gruff, witty [and] still able to stand ramrod straight".

But she added he had been a "dashing young naval officer" who went on to become a "palace moderniser".

Ms Davidson said: "He was a man that was born before the discovery of penicillin, before the creation of the United Nations or the invention of the television or the jet engine.

"But a moderniser he was in life, as well as in work. How many men in the 1950s gave up theirjobfortheirwife'scareer?"