Scotland shaped Philip deeply. Now the glens and hills he truly loved are silent to his footsteps
SCOTLAND was always a country of great significance for the Duke of Edinburgh. He proposed to the then Princess Elizabeth at Balmoral during the summer of 1946. He spent part of his honeymoon at Craigowan on the Balmoral Estate and he learnt to shoot grouse and stalk, taught by a ghillie to the late King George VI.
The King praised Philip as a marksman, saying his extraordinary concentration enabled him to become such an excellent shot.
Philip was also taught how to perform the complicated manoeuvres of the various reels so he could accompany his wife at the Ghillies’ Ball.
A naturally good dancer, he soon quickly mastered the steps and was able to reel and whoop like a true Scotsman.
It was an invitation to Balmoral that sealed his acceptance into the Royal household, after he was given the once over by courtiers in residence at the time. They were suspicious of him, snobbish about his careworn clothes and the fact the King had to lend him an outfit to go shooting. But Philip stood up to them. It was his nature to do so.
As we look back on his extraordinary life, it is clear that Scotland shaped Philip deeply – and, by extension, the thousands of lives inspired by his schemes that took seed north of the Border.
It was to Gordonstoun in Moray that the young Philip was sent at the age of 13.
Founded by Kurt Hahn, who became an inspiring mentor of Philip, the school provided the disciplined, adventurous and practical education Philip needed. Dr Hahn was private secretary
Gordonstoun left such an indelible mark on Philip he sent all his sons to the school
to Prince Max von Baden, the last Imperial Chancellor of Germany, before the pair founded the Schule Schloss Salem school.
Dr Hahn, a Jewish exile who fled Nazi Germany, founded Gordonstoun with the ideal of developing better world citizens equipped to contribute to society in a real way, not simply through intellectual prowess. Crucially, he was also the driving force behind the Outward Bound Movement and the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award.
He opened the school where access to the Highlands and coastline provided the ideal opportunity to build character outside the classroom.
Philip was one of his first pupils and stayed for five years – but what he learned lasted a lifetime, especially over public service.
He was a member of the ‘Watchers’, one of the school’s community services and a precursor to Gordonstoun’s coastguard service.
He also developed his love of sailing at Gordonstoun, inspiring his life-long love of the sea.
He was an excellent all-round athlete, becoming captain of cricket and hockey. In his final year he became ‘Guardian’ (head boy) and took part in the ‘Moray Badge’ – the inspiration for the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme.
The Moray Badge encouraged local children to experience elements of a Gordonstoun education and to achieve success in physical activities, outdoor pursuits and service to the community.
Philip gave his name to the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award when it was made a national award in 1956, and it has now spread to more than 140 countries. He took great pleasure in presenting Gold awards to its proud recipients throughout his life. He also regularly visited Gordonstoun, most recently on a private trip in 2014 to mark the school’s 80th anniversary. Typically, he insisted on joining students in the queue for lunch in the canteen rather than taking a seat and having food brought to him.
Two years ago, Philip announced he was giving his name to a foundation at Gordonstoun to offer financial support to children from a wide variety of backgrounds.
A third of students already receive financial assistance and the launch of The Prince Philip Gordonstoun Foundation aims to increase this.
The school left such an indelible mark on the Duke that he sent all his sons to the school – though with differing results. Charles found his time there difficult at first.
I know because my late husband Ross was at Gordonstoun with the Prince – and it is said the young Charles called it ‘Colditz in kilts’.
But in a speech given in 1975 to launch his charity, The Prince’s Trust, Charles painted a far different picture.
He told the House of Lords: ‘I am always astonished by the amount of rot talked about Gordonstoun and the careless use of ancient cliches used to describe it.
‘It was only tough in the sense that it demanded more of you as an individual than most other schools did – mentally or physically. I am lucky in that I believe it taught me a great deal about myself and my own abilities and disabilities.
‘It taught me to accept challenges and take the initiative.
‘Why else do you think I am brave enough to stand up before your Lordships now?’
In a way, he was also paying tribute to the judgment of his father in sending him to Gordonstoun.
Philip believed it would toughen up the sensitive young Charles. Princess Anne, who is Gordonstoun’s
Warden, also enrolled her children Zara and Peter – again backing her father’s judgment.
Another great love of Philip’s was the Highlands, and he was often at his happiest on the Balmoral Estate.
Now we can see that it was two princes who really shaped Balmoral – Albert and Philip.
The showpiece Balmoral gardens were started under the supervision of Prince Albert and have been expanded by successive members of the Royal Family. A large kitchen
He was often at his happiest on the Balmoral Estate
garden was added by the Duke of Edinburgh, which is harvested between August and October, when the Royal Family are in residence.
The gardens include a special type of late flowering raspberry which is grown to be perfectly ripe when the royals come for their annual summer break.
The Duke’s personal projects have included a large vegetable garden, a flowered, paved walk along the terrace on the north side of the castle, and a water garden to its south-west.
He personally oversaw the running of Balmoral all year round, helping to run the estate on organic principles and realising its public access had to be expanded. Half of the £3 million running costs come from tourists.
But he disliked walkers tramping over the estate so much that he put up a sign, ‘Beware of the adders’. It worked.
Charles has taken over those reins from his father and his love of Scotland and Balmoral in particular is well known. In fact, because of the pandemic restrictions, this is the first wedding anniversary Charles and Camilla have not celebrated at Birkhall – their beloved home on the estate – and where they honeymooned in 2005.
Poignantly, Philip died on their 16th wedding anniversary – and every marriage milestone from now on will inevitably be tinged with some sadness, though hopefully happiness for a life well lived.
And no family time was happier than at Philip’s famous Balmoral barbecues. With his mechanical mind fixed on solving any engineering problem big or small, he even designed a special barbecue for the Highland jaunts.
Balmoral’s housekeeper Sheena Stuart revealed a few years ago that the Queen helps to host their informal barbecues by laying the table and preparing the salad.
‘The Duke, he cooks, the Queen sets up the table,’ Miss Stuart said during a three-part series of BBC1’s Countryfile. ‘There are no staff that come out to serve.’
Tony Blair – whose youngest son, Leo, was conceived during a visit to Balmoral with his wife, Cherie – wrote in his memoirs how the royals washed up after one barbecue.
‘They put the gloves on and stick their hands in the sink,’ the former prime minister wrote. ‘The Queen asks if you’ve finished, stacks the plates up and goes off to the sink.’
However, the royals took a dim view of Mrs Blair revealing Leo was conceived at Balmoral after she forgot her contraception.
Mr Blair’s support for anti-hunting campaigners also did not help.
Then his wife was photographed yawning during the caber-tossing at the Braemar Highland Games – that was unlikely to win many brownie points, especially with Philip.
Sadly, 2020 was the last Balmoral summer for the Queen and Philip together. But so determined were they to enjoy their special Scottish home that a bubble of servants was set up and various members of the family came and joined them over the period.
The Queen gave Philip a free hand in developing the land – its farm, trees and hill country – and he worked to modernise it. But he was also keen to ensure it was commercially well run. His engineering skill was employed again, with a new device to cut weeds in a loch or the latest all-terrain vehicle.
There was nothing he enjoyed more than taking his children and grandchildren out on the hills for picnics, teaching them how to shoot and fish, and telling them about their surroundings.
He had an expert knowledge of the estate’s wildlife – such as the threatened capercaillie and red squirrels – and was behind many environmental initiatives aimed at increasing the area’s biodiversity.
When the neighbouring Mar Estate came up for sale, Charles publicly urged the National Trust for Scotland to acquire it to regenerate the Caledonian pine forest. ‘Caledonian pine?’ queried Philip. ‘We’ve got all the Caledonian pine in this part of the world. Mar’s got nothing but rocks.’
His other great enthusiasm was the chancellorship of Edinburgh University, which he held for an incredible 57 years, standing down only in 2010.
His grasp for detail was exceptional and he would talk on a huge variety of subjects, ranging from particle physics to Dolly the Sheep.
He was less tolerant of some of the architectural developments in Scotland’s capital city.
When, with the Queen, he inspected the model for the new Museum of Scotland, created by the architects Benson and Forsyth, he pointed to the round tower, its signature building, and remarked: ‘What’s that? It looks like a gasometer.’
His passion for the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award in Scotland never dimmed. Talking to recipients at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, he told a gold medal-winner who had scaled the heights of a Cairngorm
His passion for the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award never dimmed
mountain: ‘I bet you got lost up there’. ‘No,’ she replied, ‘we knew exactly where we were.’
‘Well, that’s more than I managed,’ said the Duke.
He was also an avid scholar of Scottish history and often knew more than some Scots he quizzed.
But his humour and wit were legendary – and he was no respecter of reputation.
A Church of Scotland minister once told how Philip cut short his prayer at a Balmoral dinner with an early ‘Amen’.
Now the glens and hills he so loved are silent to his footsteps. Fortunately for so many lives, his own life was not an early ending.
He cast not so much a shadow as a path forward. As a respecter of tradition, he had one step in the past and one in tomorrow.
Philip’s legacy at Balmoral and the people he helped shape through his university chancellorship and Duke of Edinburgh’s award do not just live on – they shine brightly.