There are many strands to Prince Philip’s life as consort, but as his secretary and friend the late Mike Parker always said: ‘His constant job is looking after the Queen in first place, second and third.’ As consort, he is always two steps behind his anointed Queen and he has performed this role faultlessly.

From difficult beginnings when he was forced to give up a promising career in the navy and when the old guard at Buckingham Palace and at Windsor resented his presence, he slowly but surely carved out for himself a position as innovator, conservationist, speechwriter and promoter of all things British. He suffered the indignity of not being able to pass on his family name to his children, which hurt him deeply. He is remarkably fit for a man of his age and retains the slim figure of his youth and still displays an iron will, a clear speaking voice and a sense of humour. Even in his nineties, when he had a busy day of engagements ahead of him he was known to rise at four o’clock in the morning, summoning his valet, chef, chauffeur and equerry to leave the palace at six sharp.

His sense of humour, so-called ‘gaffes’ and all, has also been a decisive factor in his relationship with the Queen. He makes her laugh. In earlier days, the shy young Queen would freeze before the television cameras. Philip would defuse the situation with an amusing aside to bring a smile to the Queen’s face. When you are under a constant spotlight, as she has been for almost her entire life, this makes a vital difference.

His achievements are many, none more so than the Duke of Edinburgh Award, which has helped millions of young people around the world and continues to do so. He used his position as President of the World Wide Fund for Nature to emphasise the vital importance of conservation around the world and he has been a tireless advocate for engineering and scientific skills in Britain.

Both the Queen in many of her Christmas speeches and Prince Philip in his several philosophical collections of writings have stressed the importance of the individual in society. More than thirty years ago, in his book A Question of Balance, Prince Philip wrote: ‘In the end, civilised standards still depend absolutely on the way people treat each other as people . . . in the final analysis, satisfaction and contentment are created by the relationships between one individual and another.’

Perhaps this goes some way to answering the question of how the Queen and Prince Philip have successfully managed seventy years of married life.

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements