Because Prince Philip did not want to spend all his time in the palace, Browning found them a country house to rent at Windlesham Moor in Surrey, where Philip immediately turned the grass tennis court into a cricket pitch. He was always health conscious and somewhat vain about his weight. If he thought he had gained any, he would put on two or three sweaters and run around the grounds until he worked up a sweat. He would come in exhausted and lie down and then have a bath to recover. This amused the princess, who thought he was quite mad, but he has kept his trim figure to this day – another example of his mental discipline.

Windlesham was also where they could entertain their friends rather less formally than in London, and they had supper parties and cricket parties. In the 50 acres of grounds, there was a miniature golf course with bunkers and undulating greens, and locals would be invited to play. Here, and later at Clarence House, Philip was the man of the house. It was he, rather than Elizabeth, who reviewed the menus and decided on the meals for the day, and the staff deferred to him on domestic matters. Life would be very different at Buckingham Palace after Elizabeth acceded to the throne.

For the princess, Windlesham was the smallest house she had ever lived in, but the household was still regal. There were six resident domestic staff, plus Elizabeth’s dresser Bobo and Philip’s valet when they were in residence. Even the dogs were given the royal treatment. At four thirty every afternoon, a footman brought in a tray laid with a cloth, silver spoons and forks, a plate each of biscuits and chopped meat and a jug of rich gravy. Elizabeth then gave each dog an individual serving in its own special bowl.

For the first few months of married life, Philip was given a desk job at the Admiralty, which he did not relish. ‘I was just a dogsbody, shuffling ships around’ was how he described it. Later he was posted to a residential staff course at the Royal Naval College in Greenwich. The demanding course was designed to prepare officers for high rank and involved Philip living at Greenwich during the week and returning to the palace at weekends. In addition, Philip had to find time for public duties, including an official visit to Paris with the then pregnant Elizabeth in May 1948.

Soon after the birth of Prince Charles in November, the King, on the advice of his doctors, cancelled a planned tour of Australia and New Zealand. His poor health meant he had to cut down on his public appearances. The burden of these official functions now fell on Elizabeth and Philip. At the same time, Philip was adding to his workload by taking on the presidency of the National Playing Fields Association, along with other organisations of which he accepted to become patron.