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“wit, grit, and irreverence”: HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
HRH The Prince Philip’s Memorial Edition
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HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
By Sir Peter Marshall, an ex FCO senior diplomate and Dep Sec Gen of Commonwealth
These sublime words from Pericles’s iconic funeral oration, havd a unique Commonwealth resonance, as Prince Philip of Greece, two millennia later, was buried in Windsor Castle.
HRH The Prince Philip was a polymath: the range and the depth of his interests and concerns was prodigious. But they can perhaps be grouped together under three rubrics: enhancing the quality of life, especially of young people notably through the Duke of Edinburgh Awards scheme; protecting, cherishing and safeguarding the environment; and the encouragement and management of change, with an ever vigilant eye to our shared future. Eminently appropriate as these priorities are in the case of those who have responsibility in one country, they are even more suited to the magnificent diversity of the Commonwealth.
HRH The Prince Philip attended the opening of the Army Apprentice College, Princess Marina College
“I was fortunate to have served as Equerry to His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh from 2001 to 2003, based in Buckingham Palace and responsible primarily for coordinating His Royal Highness’s official engagements. The period included some extraordinary events and circumstances, including The Queen’s Golden Jubilee, the sad passing of HM The Queen Mother and HRH Princess Margaret, and the unfathomable atrocities of 9/11. I plugged into a finely developed process for scheduling and organizing Prince Philip’s engagements with exacting detail. The Duke of Edinburgh at the time was the patron of over 600 organisations and devoted himself with fervent passion to so many of them, accepting a relentless volume of visits, meetings and dinners. The summer of 2002 was dominated by The Queen’s Golden Jubilee visits across the United Kingdom with The Duke of Edinburgh accompanying The Queen for the majority of the events. Marked by commemorative services, processions, walkabouts and special visits, there was enormous public support demonstrated for Her Majesty. Prince Philip engaged so naturally with the crowds, and I recall him occasionally helping young well-wishers over the barriers to present flowers to The Queen.
A mail bag was couriered daily to Prince Philip by his household staff, wherever he was based, ensuring business updates; many regarding his multitude of patronages and, from my perspective so that he could approve developing engagement plans. With many octogenarians enjoying a slower pace of life in retirement, Prince Philip challenged the normal, exuding energy, intellect and resilience. He was hugely committed to The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award and his military appointments received a high priority. His wide interests in science, engineering, design, aviation, maritime and
Brigadier (Retired) Richard Bennett MVO, nature were amply demonstrated through a previous Equerry to HRH organisations including The Royal Academy of Engineering, Cambridge University, the RSA and The Air League. He opened and chaired many a fascinating debate, fervently presenting facts and marshalling conclusions. He researched and drafted all of his own speeches, succinctly informing me that I would not be required to assist in that area when I once offered early in my tenure.
His Royal Highness had a sharp sense of humour and was always generous and supportive. His commitment was extraordinary, and he appeared to enjoy engaging with the broad spectrum of people that he met. He had such a deep well of interests and a sharp intellect, but I shall remember him mostly for his kind and indomitable spirit and his charitable nature.”
When Prince Philip’s consortship, unsurpassed in duration and quality, began with marriage in 1947 in Westminster Abbey, he was already a man skilled in the arts of war, and was expecting to continue for a number of years in the exercise of the companion responsibility for keeping the peace after victory had been won.
But it was not to be. Within five years, the untimely death, at the age of only fifty-five, of King George VI, who had spent himself in the service of his peoples in the tempestuous years of war and its exigent aftermath, had placed Princess Elizabeth on the throne at the tender age of twenty-five.
What it all meant in practice was described with full understatement by The Queen when reflecting on the role of her husband at the People’s Banquet for their Golden Wedding in 1997: “he has, quite simply, been my strength and stay all these years, and I and his whole family, and this and many other countries, owe him a debt greater than he would ever claim or we shall ever know”. One reviewer summed the situation up with picturesque succinctness: “wit, grit, and irreverence”.
During a visit to 7 Air Assault Bn, the Colonel-in-Chief spoke to personnel who had just returned from operations, including Cfn Hudson
“In HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, we have been fortunate to have a Colonel-in-Chief with a deep affinity for engineering, whose long association with the Corps has enabled the building of a very successful relationship and also someone who has raised and sustained the profile of our Corps. As a relatively young Corps within the Army, our people have a clear and important identity as the Army’s professional engineers and His Royal Highness has helped to promote the prominence of engineering across the British Army and throughout society in general. He has been a loyal and supportive member of the REME Family; creating a relaxed and approachable atmosphere at any of the formal engagements and visits, and he will be deeply missed by all of our officers and soldiers who have been inspired by his presence and
Colonel Andy Rogers ADC, enthusiasm for the Colonel REME Corps.” “ I have had the pleasure of meeting His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh on a number of occasions during my time in the REME. The first was at West Court Officers’ Mess where he was hosted by the REME Young Officers’ Dinner Club and I was privileged to sit next to him during the meal where we discussed shared interests of the countryside and farming; showing his enviable ability to talk to anyone about anything. Seizing the opportunity to talk to a room of a hundred or so young engineers, he talked of his time in the Royal Navy and his fascination with the work that the engineers aboard the ships carried out which sparked his enthusiasm for the field. Following the Corps’ amalgamation and relocation of the two Training Battalions to MOD Lyneham, HRH approved the naming of the new Home of the Corps as The Prince Philip Barracks and I was given the task to procure the wall and plaque which stands at the entrance to the camp that he unveiled to mark the occasion. The ceremony took place shortly after his appearance on the radio where he commented that ‘everything that wasn’t invented by God is invented by an engineer’ and he informed the assembled crowd at MOD Lyneham that they were about the see the ‘world’s most experienced plaque unveiler’. In 2019, I was selected to be the Corps Adjutant which also brought with it the role of Assistant Equerry to HRH The Duke of Edinburgh. An Equerry is a military officer appointed as a Captain James Aubrey, Corps Adjutant and Assistant Equerry to HRH The Duke of Edinburgh at the time of Prince Philip’s passing personal attendant to a senior member of the Royal Family. It has been a great source of pride and the highlight of my career to be a member of The Duke of Edinburgh’s Household with my most memorable duty being to represent HRH by laying his wreath at the 2019 Remembrance Parade at the Cenotaph in London.
The Duke of Edinburgh’s passing will be deeply felt by the Corps, and the country as a whole, as we have lost a great leader and mentor who possessed a sharp wit, a strong sense of duty and a love for our people and our trade.”
HRH The Prince Philip met REME Soldiers during a visit to SEME at Bordon
“REME has been privileged to have His Royal Highness The Prince Philip as our Colonel in Chief for the last 52 years. His passion for engineering and the military shone through in everything he did with and for the Corps. He loved to meet our young soldiers and officers and he took real pleasure and satisfaction in hearing what they had achieved. He brought wit and wisdom to every engagement and his style of leadership matched the ethos of the Corps perfectly. He was a great head of the REME family and we will miss him.”
Lieutenant General Paul Jaques CB CBE, Master General REME
It was another twenty years before HRH The Prince Philip retired. There is a strange irony, but also a searching inspiration in that the last year of his life should have on the one hand witnessed so much disruption, distress, suffering and bereavement, to which he was no stranger; and on the other hand so much courage, skill, tenacity and resourcefulness, which were second nature to him.
“I declare before you all” The Queen, as Princess Elizabeth, said in a broadcast from South Africa on April 21, 1947, her twenty-first birthday, “that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service”. The consortship began seven months later. You do not need to be an historian to understand its significance in that connexion. Even as we grieve for - and with - Her Majesty and the Royal Family, we look forward to the celebration next year of her Platinum Jubilee, in conditions more normal than those to which we have been variously subjected in the past year.
At the unveiling of ‘The Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers’, a High Speed Train Power Car, HRH The Prince Philip spoke with In Pensioner Vaughan, In Pensioner Skirrow and In Pensioner Newbould.
“It is a privilege to have had His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh as the Colonel-in-Chief of our great Corps for all of my 20 years of service and I am sure that every single one of our REME soldiers who have served before me since 1969 feel exactly the same way. Having spoken to a number of troops recently who had the honour of meeting HRH, it is clear that our Colonel in Chief was always quick witted, extremely personable and intent on taking the time to engage with our Craftsmen and Junior NCOs just as much as with our Commanding Officers and Generals. A particular tale from one of our Company Sergeant Majors demonstrates this aptly. When HRH visited 3 Close Support Battalion REME in Germany, his itinerary was packed as you would expect but the Prince chose to spend a great deal longer on the 5 Armoured Company tank park talking to our soldiers and their families than he apparently should have – and much to the frustration of the aides tasked with keeping him in good time for the next serial. Those that met him on that day still speak fondly about this and appreciated it. The REME instructors that spoke to him during his visit to open our training Warrant Officer Class 1 establishment in Lyneham (Corps ASM) Dan McNeill, in 2016 remember a Corps Artificer Sergeant Major Colonel-in-Chief that took a genuine interest in the equipment and training that they demonstrated. His enjoyment and fascination for all things military engineering clearly shone through and were no doubt borne from the shared lived experience he had with us as a fellow Serviceman – albeit in our sister service of the Royal Navy. He was also the Senior Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering so I’m sure our motto of ‘Arte et Marte’, or by skill and by fighting, meant as much to him as it does now to all of the soldiers that wear our cap-badge. Prince Phillip as our Colonel-in-Chief has left a lasting legacy and every one of our soldiers will continue to be trained at The Prince Philip Barracks in Lyneham. He will be forever remembered fondly by our Craftsmen, Junior and Senior NCOs.”
HRH The Prince Philip attended the dedication service of the REME memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum
