A couple of days before Christmas I was perusing the Herald website when an article caught my eye. "Oh. look", I said to Linda, "Phil the Greek is in hospital". This caused her to enquire why I called him by that nickname. I had to confess that I had been using it for many years but I was not at all sure why or even whether it was technically correct - although I had a sneaking suspicion that he was related to the old Greek royal family some way or another. It is in situations like this that Wikipedia comes into its own and a quick glance at their entry for Prince Philip showed that, yes, he was born in Greece into the royal family and that, actually, he seemed to be a far more interesting character than I had thought. In particular, his war service (in the Royal Navy) came across as worth investigating further.
All that lead to me getting this book, "Young Prince Philip" by Philip Eade. It follows Philip's early life from before his birth (he had very interesting grand[parents) through his childhood and military career and onto his courtship and marriage to Princess Elizabeth, finishing with the Coronation in 1953. It isn't an authorised biography but the author does indicate that the Palace had had a hand in correcting some of his more obvious errors. I has always considered Philip a bit of a joke figure renowned for speaking his mind at the most inappropriate junctures but this book has certainly caused me to rethink. His early family life was bizarre, to say the least, and the way that he overcame that to become a more than capable Naval officer and then re-invented himself on marriage to Elizabeth, carrying out a dignified and supportive role for the last 60 years speaks volumes for his strength of character. As is often the case in good biographies, interesting, insightful and often amusing anecdotes about Philip and his family abound.
This book is a good introduction to a man who is one of the unsung heroes of 20th Century Britain and is written in an easy style that makes great bedtime reading.
All that lead to me getting this book, "Young Prince Philip" by Philip Eade. It follows Philip's early life from before his birth (he had very interesting grand[parents) through his childhood and military career and onto his courtship and marriage to Princess Elizabeth, finishing with the Coronation in 1953. It isn't an authorised biography but the author does indicate that the Palace had had a hand in correcting some of his more obvious errors. I has always considered Philip a bit of a joke figure renowned for speaking his mind at the most inappropriate junctures but this book has certainly caused me to rethink. His early family life was bizarre, to say the least, and the way that he overcame that to become a more than capable Naval officer and then re-invented himself on marriage to Elizabeth, carrying out a dignified and supportive role for the last 60 years speaks volumes for his strength of character. As is often the case in good biographies, interesting, insightful and often amusing anecdotes about Philip and his family abound.
This book is a good introduction to a man who is one of the unsung heroes of 20th Century Britain and is written in an easy style that makes great bedtime reading.
The Book Depository has "Young Prince Philip" by Philip Eade available in hardback for $33 delivered to New Zealand or, if you are willing to wait for it to be published or are reading this after late April 2012, it has the paperback for $13. click on the link below.
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