‘Leave him with me, Mabel,’ she would say some mornings, and Andrew would be left with his mother, playing on the floor of her study while she worked at her desk. Perhaps because he was older, perhaps because he had finally found the right niche for himself, but Philip also found fatherhood the third time around more enjoyable. He liked doing things with Andrew, who was an endless source of entertainment. With a brother almost twelve years older and a sister nine years older, he could have been spoilt, as he was very much the youngest member of the family, but he was encouraged to be self-reliant.

Andrew recalls his parents divided their responsibilities towards him half and half: ‘Compassion comes from the Queen,’ he said. ‘And the duty and discipline and duty comes from him [Philip]. I think our mother probably put a bit more effort to make sure there was time for us as children, bearing in mind she was Queen when we came along. We used to see her in the afternoons and in the evenings the usual standard bath time sort of routine. And Father would usually read us a story or we would read to him – the Just So Stories – all sorts of things like that.’

Philip would also tell his children stories he had invented himself. However, his appearance in the nursery filled Mabel with apprehension, as it had Nanny Lightbody before her. It was usually a prelude to tears, as Andrew often became over-excited when playing with his father, leaving his nanny to sort out the mess – though not before once collecting a black eye in the rough and tumble.

With Charles and Anne away at boarding school, Andrew and later Edward should have been able to enjoy the individual attention of their parents, but the reins of monarchy were always pulling. When the Queen and Prince Philip did join their children for tea in the nursery, they never arrived unannounced and the staff always knew when one of them was coming. Mabel would fuss around making sure everything was in place and the children were clean and tidy. Sometimes, on Mabel’s day off or when she went to her evening pottery classes, the Queen would babysit the two children.