Saturday 10 April 2021

STEP FORWARD THE ROMANTIC HERO By Linda Mitchelmore


As the world takes in the news that HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, has died the writer in me can't help thinking that he was a hero none of us could ever have conjoured up. A real life hero in more ways than one. A role reversal of the Cinderella story, if you will. Rags to riches, because as Prince Philip of Greece the poor chap had been shunted from pillar to post, rather uncared for - and possibly unloved - by his parents and his older sisters. And with barely a bean to his name. And then, along comes the very beautiful Princess Elizabeth and we can swap the ball and the glass slipper for Dartmouth Royal Naval College and a game of croquet. And there's something about a man in uniform that's very attractive, very authoritative. And crikey, didn't Prince Philip look good in his! But while it was the right time for them to meet it was also the wrong time - she was too young, he was a serving sailor, the world was at war. Step in a bit of a hurdle to jump over and Princess Elizabeth's mother who had no end of objections to any sort of relationship between her daughter and the handsome sailor. But she didn't account for her daughter's tenacity though ... just like the prince in the Cinderella story who hunted down the owner of the glass slipper Princess Elizabeth was dogged and determined to get her man. Throw in a few glamorous settings and fabulous frocks and the beautiful people and eventually a wedding was announced. Our rather unappreciated sailor hero got hearts racing around the world. Our glamorous couple move to Malta - and doesn't everyone like an exotic setting with sunshine and drinks by the pool, parties and lunches? Then came a sea change. Our heroine got a promotion and our hero 'lost' his job and with it his status. All was not well in paradise for a while. Our hero did what many heroes before him have done (in fiction and in real life) and he reverted to his bachelor days for a while. Think nightclubs and lots of booze and women who were allowed to go to such places when his heroine was not and who, probably, didn't have children in the equation as well. But then our hero rallied. He must have looked at the steak he had at home and then found it easy to disregard the burgers he was getting outside of it - as Paul Newman put it so very well back in the day. He took on new causes - saving pandas and rhinos, and opening up the minds and lives of young people to opportunities they might not otherwise have had. And not least was the fathering of two more children in a rekindling of the royal romance. Our hero aged as we all do, but the twinkle in his eye, the sheer - dare I say - sexiness of him never flagged. He could still show today's sailors a thing or two about how to wear a uniform and carry himself. I was tempted to call Prince Philip a sort of Mills & Boon hero, but he went much deeper than that. There was politics and duty and service and more family dramas from his children and grandchildren than any man should have to cope with, but cope he did. He wasn't perfect, of course, with his gaffes but I think they served to make him more real somehow, less in a royal gilded cage, and many of us loved him for it. Sir, I salute you.

12 comments:

  1. Lovely post, Linda. A timely reminder of all the good he did, his strength of character and his loyalty to his Queen and adopted country.

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    1. Thank you. For what was technically a refugee he returned the kindness a millionfold, I think.

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  2. It might be a cliché, but its true, nevertheless. All the nice girls love a sailor!

    And so do most of the naughty ones!

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    1. Now why did I have money on the fact you'd say that, John??!!!

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  3. Fabulous summary, Linda. I did like the Duke a lot - as a Royal, that is.

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    1. Thank you so much. I liked him too .... he knew not to cross the line but he edged his toe towards it ...

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  4. What a lovely post, Linda, and an excellent tribute to him. It must have been very difficult for him in the early days but he had his own ways of doing things. For instance, I read that he was unhappy about the Queen Mum continuing to live in Buckinham Palace so he turned the central heating down so that she would move out. It worked too!

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    1. Yes, I loved that bit about the central heating! And so glad you like my tribute.

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  5. Ooh I loved this post! I'm a fierce royal watcher and found this fascinating. I was in London the summer before their diamond anniversary in 2007, and I got to go into the palace! There was an exhibit there and I saw her dress and many photos of her and Philip smiling and obvs in love. It was really nice seeing that..

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    1. Thanks, Andie. I've not been in the Palace but I did once bump into Prince Philip - almost literally. When my son was six-years-old he had a school visit to the Zoo but had to leave early for a dental appointment. I was told to pick him up from Goods-in only to find a police car and a limo there and just as I got out of my car there was Prince Philip walking towards me about five metres or so away. He smiled right at me and I dipped my head in respect. This was about 1978 and he was there for the WWF ... and devlishly handsome!

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  6. What a lovely tribute, Linda. Well done.

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    1. Thank you. I am an unapolgetic royalist ... the alternative too terrible to think about .. :)

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