Prince Philip’s enthusiasm for Gordonstoun was no less complimentary. He said: ‘I must confess I enjoyed my days at Gordonstoun. I would like as many boys as possible to enjoy their schooldays as much as I did.’ Years later, Prince Philip, as Chancellor of Edinburgh University, when making Kurt Hahn an Honorary Doctor of Law, added: ‘It cannot be given to many to have the opportunity and desire to heap honours upon their former headmasters.’

To prepare for the Dartmouth entrance examination, on Uncle Dickie’s advice, Philip went to stay with the Mercers, a retired naval officer and his wife, in Cheltenham. During several weeks of extreme cramming, his hosts found him hard-working, eager to get on and quite without ‘side’. He passed the examination sixteenth of the thirty-four entrants, most of whom were from naval schools. In May 1939, Philip entered the Royal Naval College at Dartmouth as a cadet, following in the footsteps of the three most recent Kings of England: George V, Edward VIII and George VI.

Within months of starting there, war would break out. Philip, like Elizabeth in her very different way, had been learning the importance of doing his duty. They had seen the results of what happened when people put their own interests first, as with Edward VIII’s abdication, and from their mentors they had developed a keen public spirit, even at this early age. The war years would not only reinforce that message – they would draw them together.

Chapter 4

KISSING COUSINS

A letter written by the Queen in 1947 describing how, as a young Princess Elizabeth, she fell in love with Prince Philip, was sold in 2016 for £14,400 at Chippenham Auction Rooms in Wiltshire. It far exceeded the pre-auction estimate of £1200. The two-page letter was written to the author Betty Shew, who was compiling a book called Royal Wedding as a souvenir of the marriage, and the young princess agreed to share details of her relationship with her naval officer fiancé. The letter is written in ink on headed notepaper from Balmoral Castle.

In it, Princess Elizabeth recalls how she first met Prince Philip in 1939, talks about her engagement ring and wedding band and how the couple danced at nightclubs Ciro’s and Quaglino’s in London. The Queen wrote:

The first time I remember meeting Philip was at the Royal Naval College Dartmouth, in July 1939, just before the war. (We may have met before at the Coronation or the Duchess of Kent’s wedding, but I don’t remember).

I was 13 years of age and he was 18 and a cadet just due to leave. He joined the Navy at the outbreak of war, and I only saw him very occasionally when he was on leave – I suppose about twice in three years.

Then when his uncle and aunt, Lord and Lady Mountbatten, were away he spent various weekends away with us at Windsor. Then he went to the Pacific and Far East for two years as everyone there will know.