Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip.Photo: Steve Parsons/PA Images via Getty
Prince Philiplived a memorable life before hisdeathin April at age 99, including becoming the longest-serving British consort. But a new book reveals the royal once admitted he didn’t want to live that long.
“I certainly don’t want to hang on until I am a hundred likeQueen Elizabeth[the Queen Mother],“Prince Philiponce told his longtime biographer Gyles Brandreth, who knew him for more than four decades, according toPhilip: The Final Portrait. “I can’t imagine anything worse. I’m already falling to pieces as it is. Bits keep dropping off. I have absolutely no desire to cling on to life unnecessarily. Ghastly prospect.”
Pulling from his many conversations with Prince Philip over the years, as well as numerous interviews with other royal sources, Brandreth revised and updated his 2004 bookPhilip and Elizabeth: Portrait of a Marriageto present an expansive and authoritative portrait of the Duke of Edinburgh and his 73-year marriage toQueen Elizabeth.
“He was more thoughtful and much kinder than the common caricature of him would suggest,” writes Brandreth in the book’s introduction.
Prince Philip in 1947.Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty
WhileQueen Elizabeth, 95, is always careful with her words, her husband became well-known for his off-the-cuff, candid manner. He had many such moments with Brandreth, which are recounted in the book, including times when he reflected back on his life.
“There were times when I felt quite close toPrince Philip— like a proper friend, or as much a friend as you can be with a man who is thirty years your senior and the husband of the head of state,” writes Brandreth inPhilip,setting the scene. “Sitting alone with him in his library at Buckingham Palace, sharing a drink, he was the best company: completely unstuffy, easy to talk to — and happy to talk about anything.”
“Has it been fun?” Brandreth remembers askingPrince Philip.
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“Fun?“Prince Philip"snorted” in response, according to the book. “I don’t think I think much about ‘fun’. Do you think much about fun?”
“Yes,” Brandreth said. “Now and again.”
“Really?I suppose the polo was fun,“Prince Philipadmitted. “Playing cricket was fun, in the old days. The carriage driving is fun — when you don’t fall off the box seat. Then it’s just bloody painful.”
When pressed,Prince Philipadmitted that he enjoyed flying. He’d also wondered if he should have joined the air force instead of the navy. (Prince Philipwas an officer in the British navy until King George VI’s unexpected death in 1952, which made then-Princess Elizabeth the monarch andPrince Philipher consort.)
But the royal resisted the idea of regretting past decisions. “Regrets are a waste of energy,” he told Brandreth. “There’s no point in having regrets.”
Asked Brandreth, “Has it been a good life? Worthwhile?”
“I don’t know,” saidPrince Philipwith a shrug. “I’ve kept myself busy. I’ve tried to make myself useful. I hope I’ve helped keep the show on the road. That’s about it, really.”
Prince Philipwas being humble, of course. In addition to serving as"rock"and sounding board to the Queen across her decades on the throne, he established the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award to honor young people from communities around the world.
At home “he was a force behind modernizing,“Queen Elizabethbiographer Sally Bedell Smith told PEOPLE in April. “He was the one who discovered the potential of television and actually tutored Elizabeth on how to read a teleprompter before her first [televised] Christmas speech [in 1957]. Up until then the courtiers were suspicious of him. His challenge was to find something useful he could do without stepping on her toes or somebody else’s toes.”
Gyles Brandreth.Gareth Cattermole/Getty
During a chat inPrince Philip’s library, he and Brandreth also talked about death.
“I’m quite ready to die,” the Duke of Edinburgh told the author. “It’s what happens — sooner or later.”
When his time finally came at the age of 99, Brandreth believesPrince Philipwas content.
“I think that when he died, he died happy. In the last ten years of his life he seemed a more settled soul than once upon a time,” Brandreth writes.
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“He could still be cantankerous and tetchy — he was willful and contrary to the last — but, overall, he appeared to me to be more contented late in life than he had been in middle age, more at ease with himself, with his family, and with the world,” he continues. “I believe he recognized, finally, that people recognized his contribution and, though he made light of it, that pleased him very much.”
The person who always sawPrince Philip’s strengths — and appreciated his contributions — wasQueen Elizabeth.
While celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary, she gave a heartfelt tribute to her longtime partner. “He is someone who doesn’t take easily to compliments, but he has quite simply been my strength and stay all these years,” she said, “and I … owe him a debt greater than he would ever claim.”
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Philip: The Final Portraitison salenow.
source: people.com
