That Edward should study his father is perfectly natural. That Philip should take such an interest in this son is perhaps more unexpected. Philip’s relationship with his youngest child is conducted on a level of easily familiarity that he has never managed with his eldest. The distance between Philip and Charles remains quite extraordinary. For extended periods, their only contact was via memo, while his relationship with Edward is conducted on a much more informal, friendly level.

He is also very fond of the Countess of Wessex, who married Edward after a seven-year courtship in 1999. During that period, the Queen took the unusual step of inviting Sophie Rhys-Jones to live at Buckingham Palace so she could familiarise herself with the protocol and rituals of the royal family. Some churchmen criticised the Queen for allowing an unmarried couple to live together, but she felt it was of vital importance after the failure of her children’s other marriages that Sophie knew exactly what she was letting herself in for. It showed how they had gained in understanding of the pressures faced by outsiders joining the royal family, and that the best preparation for what would follow was to give them direct experience of it.

In the popular imagination, the royal family are in daily consultation. In fact, they live surprisingly separate lives. They seldom get together during the week, even if they happen to be under the same roof at Buckingham Palace. The Queen often has her dinner alone in her private apartment, which she serves herself from a hotplate. Philip, meanwhile, until recently, if he returned late from an engagement, could be dining on the floor below with his private secretary. At the same time, Edward, before his marriage to Sophie, could have been having a snack by himself in his rooms. It would never have occurred to any of them to pick up the internal telephone to organise an impromptu family supper.

If Edward’s resignation from the Marines had brought some criticism, the way he followed it up brought much more. That summer he produced the charity TV show It’s a Royal Knockout, in which members of his family dressed in period costume as captains of four teams in a celebrity tournament at Alton Towers theme park. It was undignified, loud and, to make things worse, Edward was in a truculent mood and lost his temper and flounced out of the ensuing press conference after they made it clear what they thought of it all. It was such a disaster it is still talked of today as one of the greatest PR gaffes the royal family have made.