He would like to defy his uncle and announce that he can make his own way as a naval officer but he would still need help to navigate the process of naturalization and, if he is honest with himself, how far will he get in the Navy without the powerful Mountbatten connection? If Philip loses that, if he alienates his uncle, what will be left to him? Can he afford to lose another family, another father, another home?

Jaw tight, he stares out over the Nile at a man and his son sailing their felucca together. They will have their own problems, Philip knows, but how simple their choices must be compared to his own!

Mountbatten lets him brood for a while. ‘You don’t dislike her, do you?’ he asks eventually.

‘No, of course not.’

But it’s a long step from not disliking a girl to being forced into marriage with her. Philip is aware he is being perverse. After all, only the night before he was feeling aggrieved at not being allowed to marry Elizabeth. It’s not the idea that he objects to but the process, he reasons, trying to rationalise his reaction to himself. He has been self-reliant for so long that he instinctively digs in his heels at putting his future in anybody else’s hands.

‘She always seems a nice girl. Quiet. Steady.’ There is a trace of wistfulness in Mountbatten’s voice. Philip assumes he is thinking of his dazzling wife, Edwina, who, like his aunt Nada, is wonderful in many ways but could by no stretch of the imagination ever be called nice or quiet or steady. ‘Pretty, too.’

Philip sighs. ‘We’re writing more regularly,’ he admits. ‘She’s sent me a photograph and I’ve given her one of me.’

‘Excellent. Exchanging photos is the first step in taking things further.’ Dickie looks pleased. ‘Think what it could mean, Philip,’ he urges when Philip only rolls his eyes. ‘Lilibet will be queen one day and you could be right there next to the throne. You’re too talented to live your life as a nobody. Think of the influence you could have! It’s a match that’s suitable in every way.’

Philip’s eyes go back to the tranquil felucca. ‘I think you’re taking a lot for granted.’

‘Am I? I know how charming you can be when you feel like it. You must know perfectly well that you’re a handsome devil, and more importantly, you’re an intelligent young man – except when you’re with your idiotic cousin David and try to drive around London in the blackout! If Lilibet isn’t already in love with you, it wouldn’t take much of a push for you to make it happen, you mark my words.’

‘If it’s all the same to you, Uncle Dickie, I’d prefer to manage my wooing without your advice!’

Mountbatten’s eyes light up at the resigned acceptance in Philip’s voice and he is quick to press the advantage. ‘So we’re agreed? We’ll take the first steps in getting you naturalised?’