The Queen and Prince Philip had been married for twelve-and-a-half years when Andrew came along on the afternoon of 19 February 1960, becoming the first child to be born to a reigning British monarch in 103 years. The pregnancy was unplanned, coming on the eve of a Canadian tour which was scheduled to cover 16,000 miles in six weeks. It was not a practical journey for a woman in the early stages of pregnancy, but the Queen refused any advice to change her plans. She was, she insisted, in the best of health and had found her other two confinements relatively uncomplicated. However, the strain of the intervening years had taken their toll and the hormonal changes the Queen experienced made her very tired, but she refused to give in and rest. Stubborn to the last, she came home from the tour at the beginning of August exhausted and was immediately ordered to bed by her gynaecologist Lord Evans. Five days later, she had recovered sufficiently to journey to Balmoral for the rest of the summer.

The announcement of the 7lb 3oz infant prince’s arrival was greeted with the usual British fervour reserved for royal births. There was much rejoicing among the crowd in the Mall, who were deafened by a fly-past of thirty-six Hunter jets over Buckingham Palace as well as the traditional twenty-one-gun salute. As with her two previous births, Prince Philip remained in his study as the baby was being delivered; his wife had made it perfectly plain she didn’t want him hanging around, let alone being by her side for the birth. The whole idea was loathsome to her and she was far happier to be in the care of her medical team headed by Lord Evans, John Peel – later Sir John, who had spent the night in a nearby room – and midwife Sister Rowe.

Lord Evans was the first to tell Philip that his anxious hours of waiting were finally over and as soon as he heard the news he ran out of his study, taking the stairs two at a time, and burst into the bedroom of the Belgian Suite, so named in honour of King Leopold of the Belgians, situated on the ground floor of Buckingham Palace next door to the swimming pool. He took his new-born son from the nurse and held him in his arms. ‘It’s a boy!’ he shouted excitedly to the nursery staff.