Prince Philip

September 26, 2011
Eade attempts to understand a man he says was never temperamentally suited to the subordinate role of prince consort, and draws on recently available archives to plumb Prince Philip’s childhood to understand his complex character. A great-great-grandson of Queen Victoria, he was cousin to his future wife and heir to the British throne, Elizabeth. Prince Philip also had close blood ties to most of Europe’s royal families. His early life was overshadowed by tragedy, including his ruling family’s forced exile from revolutionary Greece, his parents’ estrangement, and his mother Princess Alice of Battenberg’s mental breakdown and committal to a sanatorium when Philip was eight. Philip was then virtually abandoned by his depressed father to the care of his mother’s family in England. Adding to the trauma was Philip’s pregnant sister Cecile’s death in a plane crash when Philip was 16. While charming, intelligent, dutiful, and vigorous, the prince consort is, according to journalist and author Eade, also irascible, a bit of a bully, and prone to explosions of both ardor and anger—possibly rooted in his troubled youth. While lacking the sort of storytelling skill that makes for a page-turner, this straightforward, respectful biography (a U.K. bestseller) is absorbing and informative. 8 pages of b&w photos.