Cover

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Dedication

FOR THELMA

Introduction

Introduction

After many years writing about the royal family, among the questions I am most often asked are: ‘What are the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh like as a couple? How does their marriage work? How do they operate as parents and grandparents?’ In short, when you strip away all the formality of royalty and the protocol that goes with it, what are they really like? With the success of the television series The Crown, interest in the personal side of their lives has been opened up to a whole new generation.

Having been around the Queen and the Duke for over thirty years, and met them both on many separate occasions, I feel able to provide a unique insight into their lives, which I hope I have achieved through the following pages. As they celebrate seventy years of marriage, there has never been a more important time to set their story in the context of the changing world they have lived through together.

Their story is as fascinating as it is improbable. How did an almost penniless prince of Greece win the heart of the world’s most eligible princess? How did she persuade her father, a King Emperor over whose dominions the sun never set, to give his consent? She was a chaste child-woman, who went straight from her nursery to the marital bed. He was a handsome 25-year-old naval officer, independent and charismatic, but without money or estates to his name. He was born on a dining-room table in a villa on the Greek island of Corfu; she was born in a grand house in London’s Mayfair with Home Secretary Sir William Joynson-Hicks in attendance.

In a world where appearances counted for everything, Philip of Greece’s upbringing was one of distinctly royal disorder. When his engagement to Princess Elizabeth was announced two years after the end of the war, the British people had very mixed feelings. To many, Philip was regarded as an immigrant fortune hunter, with distinctly German connections through his sisters. In 1947, any hint of foreign blood was frowned upon, unless the owner came swathed in riches like the great American heiresses who married into the British aristocracy. Prince Philip ticked none of these boxes, but although the princess was young and somewhat naïve, she was stubborn and determined to conquer any opposition to the union with the man she loved. She had an uphill struggle, because at the time the establishment was able to wield great influence – and Philip was very much not a part of it.