They married in 1947, aged twenty-one and twenty-six. Elizabeth and Philip met as cousins in the 1930s. The Queen’s childhood was loving and secure, the Duke’s was turbulent his grandfather assassinated, his father arrested, his family exiled, his parents separated when he was only ten. Philip and Elizabeth were both royal by birth, both great-great-grandchildren of Queen Victoria, but, in temperament and upbringing, they were two very different people. It is also the portrait of a remarkable marriage that endured for more than seventy years. Who was he? What was he really like? What is the truth about those ‘gaffes’ and the rumours of affairs? This is the final portrait of an unexpected and often much-misunderstood figure.

Philip – elusive, complex, controversial, challenging, often humorous, sometimes irascible – is the man Elizabeth II once described as her ‘constant strength and guide’. It is an extraordinary story, told with unique insight and authority by an author who knew the prince for more than forty years. This could be your big moment.This is the story of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh – the longest-serving consort to the longest-reigning sovereign in British history. Schofield joked: “This could be your audition. “Award-winning Disney composer Alan Menken will be performing a medley of some of his best-known songs and I’m going to try really hard not to sing along. It’s just a little taste of what we’ve got coming up later ahead of the release of The Little Mermaid. Turning to Willoughby, he said: “That is right up our street.” His co-star agreed: “Right up my street.

Schofield added: “What a way to start your Monday this morning.” The show began with Disney composer Alan Menken playing a medley on a piano. Instead they opted to try to present a united front with no reference to the reported rift.īut viewers claimed they picked up on the awkward chemistry between the pair. There had been doubts about whether one or both of the presenters would appear on the show this week. It was the pair’s first appearance together on This Morning since Schofield alluded to a strain in their relationship.

The front page of the Sun had declared that “Furious Phil calls in lawyers” and other newspapers ran prominent stories about what they said were “crisis talks” between the pair and ITV.īut Schofield, Willoughby and their guests, Gyles Brandreth and Camilla Tominey, spoke only about other stories including Eurovision, potential space travel to Australia, working from home, and Brandreth’s jumper.

Philip and elizabeth by gyles brandreth