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Looked at from the outside, the Duke of Edinburgh was a kind of living model of the British establishment – ever-present at all those State ceremonial occasions, Trooping the Colour, openings of Parliament.
Lean, imperious, with an eagle’s stare and a hawk nose, dressed in the bearskin and scarlet of colonel of the Grenadier Guards, or the gold and dark navy of Lord High Admiral; and caught when in mufti, perhaps carriage-driving, in tweeds and bowler, even a top hat.
Standing more or less to attention at the Queen’s side across nine decades, rigid with duty, terse with words, with the grimace of a man unlikely to suffer fools gladly, Prince Philip looked the part of the insider’s insider.
Prince Philip overcame a childhood of upheaval, tragedy and abandonment before finding stability at the Queen s side
During his married life, Prince Philip enjoyed immense wealth, considerable comfort and a great degree of stability.
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Принц Филипп, герцог Эдинбургский: надежда и опора Елизаветы II delfi.lt - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from delfi.lt Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The Philip I knew was the best of company – and the best of men
As the Duke s biographer, Gyles Brandreth found him to be a brave man who showed unexpected moments of sensitivity
Gyles Brandreth knew the Duke of Edinburgh for almost 50 years
In the summer of 2000, in the run-up to the celebrations marking the 100th birthday of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, I asked the Duke of Edinburgh, then 79, if he fancied the idea of living to be as old as his mother-in-law. “God Almighty,” he harrumphed, “I can’t imagine anything more ghastly. I’ll be dead long before then, I hope.”
Updated: April 9, 2021, 2:29 pm
Prince Philip of Greece at Gordonstoun school (PA)
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At school, Prince Philip showed all the qualities of a natural leader, but even his teachers’ reports revealed he had a rather short fuse.
Assessments written in 1938, when he was around 17, called him kind and firm, but suggested he was too irritable when put in charge of games.
Prince Philip of Greece, tossing the ball in the air, with the junior cricket team at Gordonstoun School (PA)