Never underestimate PRINCE PHILIP

He was “an alpha male in a beta role”, but according to biographer Ingrid Seward, the Duke of Edinburgh’s influence has been profound. Here, she talks to Juliet Rieden about what really makes the royal consort tick.

- Juliet Rieden

According to Ingrid Seward, the image of Prince Philip delivered in hit TV drama The Crown is way off beam. “The actor Matt Smith, who played him in the first two series, missed Philip’s big personality and I think wasn’t nearly strong enough,” she says. “He looked a little bit hangdog, a little bit whipped cur, which isn’t Philip at all.”

Seward is the Editor-in-Chief of Majesty magazine, UK’s august fanzine of the House of Windsor, joining the title back in 1984. She has written a clutch of royal biographies and her latest, Prince Philip Revealed, took two years to write, pulling together decades of interviews with friends, family and courtiers.

It’s a fascinating read which paints a portrait of a man driven by duty with a rigorous intellect and, beneath the curmudgeonly exterior that has been his tabloid-driven stereotype, an innate empathy and jokey sense of humour. Though accepting his role two steps behind his wife, Philip, says Seward, is a high achiever with an inner strength to match his exterior steeliness. He is a deeply complex character, she posits, who mistrusts cap-doffers and abhors the media, is fiercely loyal to his wife and marriage, while also appreciating the company of beautiful women.

He wrote heartfelt and poignant letters of support to his daughter-inlaw Princess Diana when her marriage was breaking down, harbours “strong opinions” on his grandson Prince Harry’s decision to quit his royal day job, while also personally “taking great pleasure in defying convention”.