SIR – What a wonderfully human person the Duke of Edinburgh was.
In the 1960s, when I was a resident in the Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh, the doctor’s mess was ill decorated. A doctor suggested that the only way to get it redecorated was to invite royalty to visit.
We sent a letter inviting the Duke to dine in the doctor's mess. To our astonishment we received a reply saying that he would be delighted to accept the invitation on the next occasion that he was in Edinburgh.
We kept the date secret but word got out during the week of the visit. A host of workmen descended and very rapidly redecorated and transformed the mess.