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'He looked like a sort of young Viking, very blond and strong and very handsome. Oh, I think he was everybody's heart-throb'.
Lady Kennard, cousin to Prince Philip.
The public perception of Prince Philip today tends to be that of an arrogant, cantankerous elderly man suffering from a severe case of foot-in-mouth disease. Yet is this troubled picture a true reflection of the man who always has to walk two steps behind the queen?
The makers of the two-part Channel 4 special The Real Prince Philip had unique access to royal intimates and friends and rarely seen documentary footage from the royal archive. The programmes illuminated our knowledge of one of the least understood members of the royal family and charted his life from princely refugee to debonair naval officer and from modernising royal to arch traditionalist.
The programmes included interviews with childhood friends (and cousins) Lady Mountbatten, Lady Kennard and Lady Butter, as well as: Michael Parker, Philip's private secretary from 1947 to 1957; Constantine II, former king of Greece; John Gibson, former royal footman; naval contemporaries Lord Lewin and Admiral William O'Brien; Charles de Haes, former Director of the World Wildlife Fund (now the World Wide Fund for Nature); and Martin Palmer, Prince Philip's religious adviser.
The Real Prince Philip also included footage from the ground-breaking television programme Royal Family, seen for the first time since its broadcast in 1969.
1921-1952.
In 1921, Philip was born on Corfu into the atmosphere of extreme uncertainty and danger that shrouded the Greek royal family. At the age of 18 months, he was carried aboard a Royal Navy ship in an orange box as his family fled the military junta that had overthrown the Greek monarchy following the country's defeat at the hands of the Turks. From then on, Philip had a rootless existence, drifting between the minor royal households of Europe. His mother, Princess Alice, sister of Louis Mountbatten, became increasingly estranged from Philip's father Prince Andrew and the two eventually separated. Alice retreated to a nunnery and Andrew to Monte Carlo, where he died in the arms of his mistress. Philip's inheritance was an ivory-handled shaving brush and a few moth-eaten suits.
Yet Philip appeared to thrive. He was educated at Cheam and at the German public school Salem, and when the latter's Jewish headmaster Kurt Hahn fled Nazi persecution, Philip followed him to the new public school he set up in Scotland – Gordonstoun.
In 1939, Philip joined the Royal Navy, and it was at the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth that he met the 13-year-old Princess Elizabeth. Marion Crawford, Elizabeth's governess, remembered that first meeting: 'A fair-haired boy, rather like a Viking with a sharp face and piercing blue eyes, came in. He was good looking, though rather off-hand in his manner. Lillibet never took her eyes off him the whole time.'
Philip's uncle and godfather Lord Louis Mountbatten had organised the royal visit to Dartmouth and for Philip to escort the young princess. Lillibet did not forget her 'Viking', but although Mountbatten continued over the next few years to fight the corner of his young protege, the path to a royal romance was strewn with obstacles, including the Second World War. Philip himself had a 'good' war, serving in the Mediterranean – when he took part in the battle of Matapan – and in the Pacific. However, by the time he married Elizabeth in 1947, he had had to distance himself from his own sisters, one of whom was married to a prominent Nazi, renounce his religion and his nationality, and even change his name: Philip Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glucksburg became Philip Mountbatten.
However, the marriage seemed happy, and never more than during Philip and Elizabeth's tour of Kenya in 1952. This was brought to a halt by the unexpected death of George VI and Elizabeth's sudden accession to the throne. At that moment, Philip stopped being his own man and became subservient to his wife. It was a transition he found hard to make.
1952 to the present.
In the 1950s, rumours of affairs and problems in the royal marriage swept the international press, yet the prince kept busy – in 1956, he founded the Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme to encourage creative achievement among young people – and scandal was avoided. In 1969 came the royal family's first attempt at modern spin-doctoring with the television documentary Royal Family: its making was championed by Philip who wanted to portray the Windsors as an ordinary family doing an extraordinary job.
However, his role as President of the World Wildlife Fund was tinged with controversy, owing to his penchant for shooting wildlife. Then there was his unfortunate knack of saying the wrong thing at the wrong time – including the infamous 'slitty eyes' comment on a royal tour of China. In later life, he has journeyed back to Greek Orthodoxy. The programme ended with the question: why has the man who brought a modernising breath of fresh air to Buckingham Palace in the early days of his marriage apparently become a reactionary traditionalist?
The Real Prince Philip revealed the life of a royal paradox; the man who is at the centre of the British monarchy but who can never play a part in the nation's constitutional life.
Channel 4 is not responsible for the content of third-party sites.
HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
www.royal.gov.uk/family/philip.htm
Philip's own page from the official 'British Monarchy' website. Gives you the family's line on this sometimes wayward member.
Kurt Hahn.
www.infed.org/thinkers/et-hahn.htm
A short biography of the founder of Salem (Germany) and Gordonstoun schools, who had a profound effect on the shaping of Prince Philip's character (as well as of his sons).
Elizabeth and Philip by C Higham and R Moseley (Ulverscroft Large Print Editions, 1998) £16.99.
This readable page-turner will delight anglophile royal watchers with its in-depth look at the lives of Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip and their famous – sometimes infamous – family.
Prince Philip: A critical biography by John Parker (Ulverscroft Large Print Books, 1992) £16.99.
Prince Philip, although lacking a constitutional role, has exerted great influence on the queen and the royal family, the ultimate effect of which only time will tell. This and other aspects of his life and times, including a difficult childhood, are covered by this biography.
Prince Philip: His secret life by John Parker (Macmillan, 1990) £15.95.
In this book, Parker reports alleged affairs and a possible illegitimate child, along with details of genealogy and long discussions of Philip's charitable works. He covers the prince's early life before and after meeting Princess Elizabeth, as well as the tabloid stories that accompanied the couple.
Golden Years by Pathe James (Solo Books, 1997) £25.00.
Produced in celebration of the queen and Prince Philip's golden wedding anniversary on 20 November 1997.
Off the Leash: Memoirs of a royal corgi by Matthew Sturgis (Coronet, 1996) £5.99.
An account of the royal family at work, at play, at home, at each other's throats – told with the honesty for which corgis are justly famous. It tells of Princess Di's eating habits, the Duke of Edinburgh's sporting prowess and Fergie's innate sense of modesty.
Competition Carriage Driving by HRH Prince Philip (J A Allen & Co., 1994). Out of print.
Written as a result of experience gained in national and international combined driving events, this book is designed to inspire all who aspire to drive four-in-hand in competition. The prince gives advice and encouragement on all aspects of training, preparation and competition driving.
Famous People: The Queen Elizabeth II story book by Sydney Wood (4Learning, 2002) £5.
(available by post: 4Learning, PO Box 400, Wetherby, LS23 7LG. Tel: 08701 246 444
or e-mail: 4Learning.sales@channel4.co.uk)
Published to commemorate the Queen's Golden Jubilee, and part of 4Learning's popular Famous People series, this biography is illustrated in full colour and aimed at 5-7 year olds.
Produced to accompany The Real Prince Philip, first screened on Channel 4 on 31 October 2000.
Writer: Phil Edwards
Project manager: Caroline Sutton
Editor: Peter Millson
Web designer: Alan (Fred) Pipes.
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