Politics
Uncertain Prince Philip asked ‘am I very brave or very foolish?’ on the morning of his Royal wedding
JUST like William and Kate, Philip and Princess Elizabeth loved their early life together as a normal married couple in the Armed Forces.
Until his marriage, Philip had nowhere to call home.
On the morning of his wedding day, Prince Philip asked His cousin Patricia Mountbatten remembered him asking: ‘Am I being very brave or very foolish?’[/caption]
It irked him so much that the battle-hardened Naval officer would often give his address as No Fixed Abode.
He had lived in digs on Naval bases and survived on his Royal Navy officer’s pay plus a £5-a-week handout from his uncle Dickie Mountbatten.
Money was still tight in November 1947 when Philip and Princess Elizabeth married.
Just like today, it was a time of austerity. The war in Europe ended only two years before and Britain had just endured the worst winter of the century.
By royal standards, the wedding at Westminster Abbey would not be lavish.
Philip holds Elizabeth’s hand as they leave Westminster Abbey after their vows[/caption]
The day before the wedding, King George VI gave Philip the title of HRH Baron Greenwich, Earl of Merioneth and Duke of Edinburgh — the title he used for the rest of his life.
On the morning of the wedding, Philip gave up smoking cigarettes.
The King, who died later of lung cancer, was a heavy smoker and Elizabeth feared cigarettes would take their toll on her new husband.
It is proof of the Duke’s iron self-discipline that from that moment on, he never touched a cigarette again.
But that morning he did have doubts. His cousin Patricia Mountbatten remembered him asking: “Am I being very brave or very foolish?”
She told former MP Gyles Brandreth: “He was apprehensive. He was uncertain, not about marrying Princess Elizabeth but about what marriage would mean for him. Everything was going to change for him.”
The newlyweds enjoy a walk on their honeymoon at Broadlands, Hampshire[/caption]
But after a stiff gin and tonic, he arrived at the Abbey to marry the princess, whose dress cost £1,200 and used up 300 ration coupons.
The wedding was followed by a modest, austerity wedding breakfast for 150 guests though did feature a four-tiered cake that was nine feet high. The couple went on honeymoon to Earl Mountbatten’s mansion, Broadlands, in Hampshire, where 34 years later Charles and Diana would spend their first days as man and wife.
At first, the couple lived in Buckingham Palace and Philip combined his role in the Navy with royal duties, which increased as the King’s health failed.
Almost a year after the Royal Wedding, Prince Charles was born. The princess had been in labour for 30 hours at Buckingham Palace. Philip was playing squash on the palace courts when she gave birth.
He raced to the makeshift maternity suite, picking up carnations and chocolates on the way. His squash partner, equerry and pal Mike Parker said: “Philip was thrilled to have a son. He was over the moon.”
Before the birth, Elizabeth had told pals she intended to bring up her child without too much help from nannies, but royal duties took her away for long periods.
The couple had a 9ft wedding cake[/caption]
The following year Philip was given a two-year posting to Malta on board HMS Chequers. Princess Elizabeth joined her husband on the Mediterranean island, where they lived as near a normal life as possible.
Philip’s valet John Dean recalled: “I think it was their happiest time. They were so relaxed and free, coming and going as they pleased.”
Princess Anne was conceived in Malta. By then Charles was a year old and back home in England being looked after by nannies and his devoted grandparents, the King and Queen. Charles spent his second Christmas without his parents, who were still in Malta.
In July 1950, just before Princess Anne was born, Prince Philip was promoted to Lt Commander and given his first command, in charge of the frigate HMS Magpie.
“Dukey”, as he was known to the 150 men in his command, was heading for further promotion and eventually a senior job at the Admiralty.
Prince Louis of Battenberg, his German grandfather, had a 40-year career in the Navy, which culminated in his appointment as First Sea Lord.
And Lord Louis Mountbatten, Prince Louis’s son and Philip’s uncle, also became First Sea Lord and Admiral of the Fleet.
Philip was destined to follow in their wake but fate intervened. The King was seriously ill and had an operation to remove a lung, which meant that Elizabeth and Philip had to stand in for the princess’s father on a 35-day tour of Canada and the US in 1951.
Getting into the swing with country dancing on a tour in Canada[/caption]
On that trip, the Duke and Princess Elizabeth became the first royals to cross the Atlantic by plane, landing in Montreal.
In scenes that would be repeated years later with Diana and Kate Middleton, tens of thousands turned out to get a glimpse of the young royals. Later, suggesting that unlike Diana he did not let the adulation go to his head, Philip said: “It would have been easy to play to the gallery but I took a conscious decision not to do that. Safer not to be too popular. You can’t fall too far.”
At the end of January 1952, the royal couple again stood in for the ailing King on a tour.
The Duke and princess flew to Kenya on the first leg of a mammoth six-month trip that would take them to Sri Lanka, Australia and New Zealand.
But in the early hours of February 6, the King died in his sleep of a heart attack after lung surgery. He was only 56.
At the time the King passed away, Elizabeth was asleep at Treetops, a hotel set among the branches of a fig tree 100 miles from Nairobi. Elizabeth had spent the morning fishing and it was lunchtime before the news reached the royal party.
Carefree and relaxing in the grounds of Sagana Lodge, Kenya, in February 1952 – unaware the death of Elizabeth’s father was going to change their lives forever[/caption]
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A sleeping Philip was woken by his equerry, Mike Parker, who recalled: “He looked as if half the world had dropped on him.” Philip said nothing and went out into the garden to break the news to his wife that she was now Queen.
The following afternoon, as the royal plane touched down at Heathrow, the Queen, dressed in black, walked down the steps alone. Philip hung back inside the plane until she reached the tarmac.
He said: “When the late king died everything changed.”
