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Search - Prince Phillip: His Secret Life

Prince Phillip His Secret Life
Author: John Parker

For almost four decades, Prince Philip has been the rock, the key foundation stone upon which Queen Elizabeth II has built her new house of Windsor. He has been there, two paces behind and always in her shadow, a man apparently without power and with no recognized constitutional role. — Yet he has become the most controversial member of the Royal... more » Family since the Duke of Windsor, and has done arguably more than any other royal this century to reshape the face of the British monarchy.

He is an enigmatic character whose life has revolved around quite violent contrasts and contradictions, many of which emanate from his unsettled and impoverished early life. Born in 1921 to Prince Andrew of Greece and Princess Alice of Battenberg, he was thrust into a nomadic existence when his family was banished from Greece, the country of his birth where his father faced the threat of a firing squad. Handed around among relatives while Prince Andrew became a minor playboy on the French Riviera and Princess Alice spent years in and out of nursing homes, Philip discovered the strong guiding force of his maternal uncle, Lord Louis Mountbatten, behind him. Determined to see a Battenberg married to the future Queen of England, Mountbatten played cupid in the budding romance between his nephew and Princess Elizabeth. Not even the Nazi affiliations of some close members of Philip's family would be allowed to stand in his way.

Mountbatten achieved his ambition but it was his nephew who paid the price. He was pushed into the limelight yet was denied any specific role. Prince Philip vented his frustrations in many ways, including a boisterous program of relaxing activities with his newly acquired collection of boats, planes, cars, and horses. Conversely, he wa determined to do much more than live the life of the idle rich. Espousing various causes, such as industrial reform and the Worldwide Fund for Nature, he has never had any problem in making his views known. Indeed, he has been hectoring the natioin with his outspoken, often rude and intolerant remarks since the day he moved into Buckingham Palace -- and these alone will ensure him a place in the history books.

But ultimately, he will be remembered for his role in reshaping the monarchy. Although constitutionally he does not exist, in private he has been the power behind the Throne and exerted total control over his family. Whether his modernizing of the House of Windsor has strengthened it or helped, finally, to destroy its mystique, only time will tell. What is clear as Prince Philip enters his seventieth year is that he is a more settled man, at peace with himself though not neessarily with the world.

ISBN-13: 9780312064440
ISBN-10: 0312064446
Publication Date: 10/1991
Pages: 280
Rating:

0 stars, based on 0 rating

Publisher: St Martins Pr
Book Type: Hardcover
Members Wishing: 0
Reviews: Amazon | Write a Review

Genres:

Biographies & Memoirs >> General
Biographies & Memoirs >> Leaders & Notable People >> Royalty >> Elizabeth II
History >> Europe >> England >> General
History >> Europe >> England >> 20th Century

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