The Royals Part 8

"Royalty regard their children like cattle," wrote John Gordon in the Daily Express Daily Express after learning that the Queen stayed in bed the night Prince Charles was rushed to London's Great Ormond Street Hospital for an emergency appendectomy at midnight. "People didn't like the Queen's failure to go to Prince Charles's bedside when he was suffering," wrote Gordon. after learning that the Queen stayed in bed the night Prince Charles was rushed to London's Great Ormond Street Hospital for an emergency appendectomy at midnight. "People didn't like the Queen's failure to go to Prince Charles's bedside when he was suffering," wrote Gordon.

In 1952, when Elizabeth became the new Queen, she struggled to make room in her life for her family, but she no longer had time to be a mother. Instead she dedicated herself to the Crown and postponed having more children.

As the new sovereign, she knew she had to reign-to travel the world, make state visits, welcome world leaders, consult Parliament, deliver speeches, accept salutes, cut ribbons, bestow knight-hoods-and try to smile.

The obsessive-compulsive child, once described by her governess as "too methodical and tidy... too dutiful for her own good," took over as she buried herself in the duties of the monarchy. "I didn't have an apprenticeship," she said later. "My father died much too young. It was all a very sudden kind of taking on, and making the best job you can...." She became zealous about answering her mail, making her speeches, doing her boxes, which held the government doc.u.ments sent to her every day.

"Oh, those boxes," said a former courtier many years later. "It was all too easy for her to say, 'I've got two red boxes upstairs, that's my const.i.tutional duty, and I'd really rather do that than have a row with my son, daughter, or husband.' Red boxes are a marvelous escape from family problems."

Publicly Elizabeth looked like the ideal mother. Pictures of her with her handsome husband and her two young children appeared regularly in newspapers and magazines. She learned from her clever mother, who, as Queen, had authorized books such as The Family Life of Queen Elizabeth. The Family Life of Queen Elizabeth. She also arranged newspaper photo spreads called "Our Little Princesses at Home" and "Playtime at Royal Lodge" to foster the image of an idyllic royal family. Naturally Elizabeth grew up considering such orchestrated coverage a vital marketing tool for the monarchy. She felt that posing for photos was part of her job as Queen, and her husband felt the same way. "If you are really going to have a monarchy," he said, "you have got to have a family, and the family has got to be in the public eye." She also arranged newspaper photo spreads called "Our Little Princesses at Home" and "Playtime at Royal Lodge" to foster the image of an idyllic royal family. Naturally Elizabeth grew up considering such orchestrated coverage a vital marketing tool for the monarchy. She felt that posing for photos was part of her job as Queen, and her husband felt the same way. "If you are really going to have a monarchy," he said, "you have got to have a family, and the family has got to be in the public eye."

Reordering her priorities, the Queen now placed the monarchy first, her marriage second, and her children third. "I think any idea of a family in the normal sense was knocked on the head by the Queen's accession at such an early age," said biographer Philip Ziegler. "I don't think it was ever in her nature to be a close parent, but in any case, it became impossible once she was swept up into the merry-go-round of royal activities."

Still, she tried not to give up all her maternal responsibilities. "I must have some time for the children every day," she said. She changed the hour of her weekly visit with the Prime Minister so she could see Charles, four, and Anne, two, before they went to bed, and she allowed them thirty minutes with her and Philip in the morning. Their nannies, Helen Lightbody and Mabel Anderson, took the children into the Queen's sitting room at 9:00 A.M. A.M. for this visit every day and promptly whisked them away by 9:30 for this visit every day and promptly whisked them away by 9:30 A.M. A.M., when she sat down at her desk to work. Usually Anne did not want to leave, but her brother would pull her away, saying, "Anne, you must not bother Mummy. She's busy. She's queening."

The children spent the rest of the day with their nannies and nurses, the st.u.r.dy Scottish women with sensible black shoes and tightly permed hair, who fed them, dressed them, bathed them, and even slept in the same room with them. At 5:00 P.M. P.M.* every day, the nannies took the children back for another visit with their mother and father before taking them to the nursery for their baths and bedtime. The children saw their nannies more often than they ever saw their parents. every day, the nannies took the children back for another visit with their mother and father before taking them to the nursery for their baths and bedtime. The children saw their nannies more often than they ever saw their parents.

"A miserable childhood," recalled Prince Charles years later, blaming his parents, especially his father, for his upbringing. One of his saddest recollections was growing up alone. He said that his father was rarely present for his birthdays and missed the first five. Instead his father sent him notes.

"Loneliness is something royal children have always suffered and always will," said Lord Mountbatten, refusing to place blame on either parent. "Not much you can do about it, really."

The romance novelist Barbara Cartland could not bring herself to fault the Queen as a mother. Instead she d.a.m.ned her by implication. "Charles was born when his mother was very young, so she didn't spend an awful lot of time with him," she said. "He was such an unhappy little boy growing up."

The Queen Mother knew where to place the blame. "The papers continually accuse Philip of having been a harsh father," she confided to a dinner partner. "If they only knew the truth.... It was always Lilibet who was too strict and Philip who tried to moderate her."

Each time the Queen returned from one of her royal tours, she expressed surprise at how much her young son had grown and how noisy he had become. Unaccustomed to his energy, she felt overwhelmed around him. "He's such a responsibility," she said with a sigh.

Early on, she decided the children should be known in the household simply as "Charles" and "Anne" rather than "sir" and "ma'am." She decreed that maids and footmen no longer had to bow and curtsy to the sovereign's children, reserving that homage for herself and her mother. Like the staff, Charles, too, was required to bow to his mother before he left the room, just as he bowed to his grandmother, the Queen Mother.

"You always have to do as Granny tells you," he told a playmate, "or else she has no sweets in her bag."

"Why do you bow to her?" asked the playmate.

"It's what I have to do."

"Why?"

"Because Papa says so."

When his nanny insisted Charles wear a pair of tartan shorts beneath his kilt at Balmoral, he refused.

"I'm not wearing those," he said. "Papa doesn't."

"Papa" was the sun that shone on his childhood and warmed his days, despite occasional scoldings and spankings. "I think he has had quite a strong influence on me, particularly in my younger days," Charles said in later years. "I had perfect confidence in his judgment." Only when Charles was unable to live up to his father's expectations did he turn on Philip. Then Charles said his father was a bully, who ruled his childhood like a despot. He sniped to friends that there are two types of fathers: the first instills self-confidence in his children by offering praise when merited and withholding criticism when possible. "The second is the Duke of Edinburgh," he said. By then Charles had forgotten how he once idolized his father and imitated everything he did, right down to walking with his head down and his hands clasped behind his back.

"As a child, Charles begged to be with his father," recalled the Queen's footman, "and much preferred sitting on Prince Philip's knee than on the Queen's when we brought them for their morning visit.... He was the sort of father any kid would adore.... More so than the Queen, he has a natural, easy ability to come down to the simpler level of childhood without seeming either patronizing or condescending."

Members of the royal household recall Philip reading Hiawatha Hiawatha to the children and putting on the Indian feather headdress he had brought from Canada. Whooping and hollering, he performed war dances around the nursery, to the delight of his young son. "That's the game I love best of all," said Charles, clapping his hands. to the children and putting on the Indian feather headdress he had brought from Canada. Whooping and hollering, he performed war dances around the nursery, to the delight of his young son. "That's the game I love best of all," said Charles, clapping his hands.

Others see Philip through more jaundiced eyes. "He tolerated Charles, but I don't think he was a loving father," said Eileen Parker, whose former husband, Michael Parker, was Philip's best friend and equerry. "He would pick up Charles, but his manner was odd. He had more fun with Anne. I think Charles was frightened of him."

The little boy was certainly afraid of his mother, who appeared aloof, forbidding, and too busy for him. Years later he said he could not remember one incident of maternal love from his childhood, except for an evening when his mother came to the nursery before his evening bath. She sat on a gilt chair with a footman behind her and watched his nanny bathe him. "She didn't put her hands in the bathwater," Charles recalled, "but at least she watched the procedure."

He recounted for one of his biographers how his mother greeted him after her first royal tour. He had not seen her for six months, so he raced on board the Britannia Britannia to welcome her home. He ran up to join the group of dignitaries waiting to shake her hand. When the Queen saw her young son squirming in line, she said, "No, not you, dear." She did not hug him or kiss him; she simply patted his shoulder and pa.s.sed along to the next person. A photographer captured the awkward greeting between mother and son, which the Queen later justified to a friend. "I have been trained since childhood never to show emotion in public," she said. to welcome her home. He ran up to join the group of dignitaries waiting to shake her hand. When the Queen saw her young son squirming in line, she said, "No, not you, dear." She did not hug him or kiss him; she simply patted his shoulder and pa.s.sed along to the next person. A photographer captured the awkward greeting between mother and son, which the Queen later justified to a friend. "I have been trained since childhood never to show emotion in public," she said.

"Her dislike of physical contact is almost a phobia," wrote British columnist Lynda Lee-Potter. "By her inability to demonstrate love for her children, the Queen has made it difficult for them to give affection in return. She is a stoic and, like her mother, has a ruthless streak."

While the Queen seemed incapable of demonstrating affection, her husband appeared to be similarly aloof and reserved. "He doesn't wear his heart on his sleeve," said Michael Parker. "I always wanted to see him put his arms around the Queen and show her how much he adored her. What you'd do for any wife. But he always sort of stood to attention. I mentioned it to him a couple of times. But he just gave me a h.e.l.l of a look."

Charles did not grow up seeing much physical affection between his parents; nor does he remember his mother kissing him after the age of eight. He wistfully told a friend that his nanny meant more to him emotionally than his mother ever did. He cited research done on baby monkeys deprived of a soft, motherly touch right after birth. He said they never recovered emotionally. They became impa.s.sive and withdrawn, not unlike the fearful little boy who wandered through the carpeted corridors of Buckingham Palace. When he became aware of scientific research that shows the loving interaction between mother and child charges the youngster's brain to be receptive to learning, Charles said he finally understood why he had been described as "a plodder."

A sickly child, he suffered from knock-knees like his grandfather and great-grandfather. His flat feet forced him into orthopedic shoes and he developed colds, sore throats, bouts of asthma, and chronic chest congestions.

"His Royal Highness was an earnest little boy," said a former courtier. "Correct, well mannered, but timid like his mother. He was uncertain on a horse and queasy on a boat. His sister, Anne, who was twenty-one months younger, was bold and rambunctious like her father, which is why she became his favorite child."

Philip worried about his son's frailties and tried to toughen him up. "I want him to be a man's man," he said. Fit, tough, and handsome, Philip played cricket and polo, crewed in yachting races, drove carriages, piloted planes, and shot grouse with zest. He wanted his son to do the same. Philip gave Charles a cricket bat for his first birthday and later taught him how to play. He gave him his first gun and taught him how to shoot. He taught him to swim, to ride, to sail, and to hunt. He later introduced him to painting and polo and arranged for flying lessons so he could pilot his own plane. Charles then survived strenuous naval training to take command of a coastal minesweeper, but he could not shed the image of a wimp.

A nail-biting child, afraid of the dark, Charles longed for his father's approval and overcame his fear of horses to ride and his seasickness to sail. He was not a natural athlete like his sister, but he pushed himself hard in sports, sometimes to the edge of recklessness.

Hardly an indulgent parent, Philip spanked Charles whenever he hit his sister or pulled her hair. And that was often. "When we were children, Charles and I used to fight like cat and dog," said Anne. Philip told Charles that he had to take his spankings "like a man."

"Act like a man," was his father's constant refrain. "Be a man." Once, after a mild scolding from his nanny, Charles ran to his father. "I'm so sick of girls, Papa," he said. "Let's go away and be men by ourselves."

Sometimes Philip's preoccupation with manliness bordered on h.o.m.ophobia. "I remember when the Queen and Prince Philip were shown the newly done up Porchester house," said the British decorator Nicholas Haslam. "They brought Prince Charles with them but left him in the car when they went inside. The hostess asked, 'Wouldn't you like to let Prince Charles accompany us?'

" 'Good G.o.d, no,' said Prince Philip. 'We don't want him knowing anything pansy like decoration.' "

Even so, the Queen's footman noticed a feminine effect on the young boy. "At the time he was first sent to school, Charles was already showing signs of succ.u.mbing to the cloying, introverted atmosphere that pervades the Palace," he said. "He was the object of considerable petticoat influence."

So many women exercising so much authority over his son annoyed Philip. "Nothing but nannies, nurses, and poofs," he said, referring to the household staff, which was mostly h.o.m.os.e.xual.* He insisted his son be educated outside the Palace. The Queen objected, but Philip pointed to her sheltered childhood and reminded her that she rarely met a commoner who was not a servant. "Charles must learn to mix with other lads on the same level," he said. The Queen preferred to continue her son's education inside the Palace with the private tutor, Miss Katherine Peebles ("Mispy"), who had been teaching Charles since he was five years old. Philip argued that while the small, spry Scotswoman was a nice person, she had no formal training and no university degree. Consequently he did not think she was qualified to educate a future king. She had proved adequate at taking Charles and Anne on field trips to the zoo, the planetarium, and the museums, but now that Charles was eight, he needed to get out of the Palace and begin his formal education. "That means school-a real school," said Philip. He insisted his son be educated outside the Palace. The Queen objected, but Philip pointed to her sheltered childhood and reminded her that she rarely met a commoner who was not a servant. "Charles must learn to mix with other lads on the same level," he said. The Queen preferred to continue her son's education inside the Palace with the private tutor, Miss Katherine Peebles ("Mispy"), who had been teaching Charles since he was five years old. Philip argued that while the small, spry Scotswoman was a nice person, she had no formal training and no university degree. Consequently he did not think she was qualified to educate a future king. She had proved adequate at taking Charles and Anne on field trips to the zoo, the planetarium, and the museums, but now that Charles was eight, he needed to get out of the Palace and begin his formal education. "That means school-a real school," said Philip.

The education of Charles became a matter of great debate inside and outside the Palace. Regular newspaper headlines asked "Why Can't the Royal Children Go to School-Must It Always Come to Them?" and "Have We the Right to Cut Prince Charles Off from Normal Pleasures So Early in Life?"

The Queen reluctantly agreed to send her son to Hill House, a London day school. He arrived wearing a gray coat with a black velvet collar. The other children wore the school's uniforms. For the next year Philip suggested his own preparatory school, the Cheam School, where Charles would board, share a dormitory with nine other boys, and sleep on wood-slatted beds. Again the Queen resisted, but Philip badgered her. Finally she agreed and allowed her son to become the first heir to the British throne to go away to school like a commoner.

"We want him to go to school with other boys of his generation and to live with other children and absorb from childhood the discipline imposed by education with others," said Philip. The Queen told the headmaster at Cheam to treat the future monarch like any ordinary student but to address him as Prince Charles. He could be plain Charles to the other boys, some of whom made fun of their future monarch's soft pudginess by calling him "Fatty."

The little boy who had been dressed in silk dresses and ribboned bonnets for the first two years of his life now faced bamboo rod canings from the headmaster. "I was warned," Charles said years later, "that we would be beaten, and I got beaten [for dormitory horseplay]. I didn't do it again. I was one of those people for whom corporal punishment actually worked."

On the first day of school, Charles clutched his initial-embossed box of milk chocolates-his mother's parting gift. He did not know how to share with the other boys and was too frightened to try. Leaving the loving arms of his nanny, his nurse, and his governess proved painful for Charles, who was shy and unaccustomed to making friends.

"He felt family separation very deeply," said his nanny, Mabel Anderson.

"He would write Mispy every day," said his sister, Anne. "He was heartbroken. He used to cry into his letters and say, 'I miss you.' "

He wrote wistfully to his father. "Dearest Papa, I am longing to see you in the ship." He drew a sailboat like the one Prince Philip raced at Cowes, the world's biggest sailing regatta. He excelled in art and enjoyed drawing and painting pictures of his family. When he was six years old he drew a humorous Christmas card for his father, who was shown next to a vat labeled "Hair Restorer." Philip had been fretting about his receding hairline and encroaching baldness.

Soon after he started school, Charles was reprimanded for saying a naughty word. "He may have picked it up from one of the workmen," said Philip, "but I'm afraid he may equally have picked it up from me."

After five and a half years at Cheam, where he failed mathematics and barely pa.s.sed history,* Charles told his parents that he wanted to go to "Papa's school," which meant Gordonstoun, a Scottish citadel of cold showers and canings. Charles told his parents that he wanted to go to "Papa's school," which meant Gordonstoun, a Scottish citadel of cold showers and canings.

"I remember Philip discussing public [private] schools at one of our Thursday Club luncheons-those all-male get-togethers we had at Wheeler's Tavern in Soho," recalled harmonica player Larry Adler. "I told him I saw public schools as factories for manufacturing h.o.m.os.e.xuals. James Robertson Justice, a fine actor and a gruff Scotsman, joined the conversation.

" 'Oh, G.o.d, Adler, are you on that dreary hobbyhorse of yours again?' he said. 'I was b.u.g.g.e.red my first week at Eton. Did me no harm whatsoever.'

" 'Well, James,' I said, 'it was different with you, as everyone had to turn out to watch you being b.u.g.g.e.red because of the school motto: Justice Must Not Only Be Done, He Must Be Seen to Be Done.' Philip howled with laughter."

He felt that by sending his son to Gordonstoun in Scotland, he would protect him from the effete influence of the English public school system. He also said that the school in Morayshire was far enough from London so that Charles would escape the daily scrutiny of reporters. "Eton is frequently in the news, and when it is, it's going to reflect on you," he told his son. "If you go to the north of Scotland, you'll be out of sight, and reporters are going to think twice about taking an airplane to get up there, so it's got to be a major crisis before they actually turn up, and you'll be able to get on with things."

Charles finally consented and chose his father's school, which he later regretted. "It was h.e.l.l," he said. "I failed my math exams three times," he said. He also flunked German and struggled with science. He wrote sad letters every night, complaining about how his cla.s.smates treated him. "I don't get any sleep... they throw slippers all night long or hit me with pillows or rush across the room and hit me as hard as they can." Years later he blamed his father for sending him to Gordonstoun. Yet, at the time, Philip was not entirely comfortable about leaving his soft young son in the hands of Gordonstoun's taskmasters. After delivering Charles for his first term, Philip and the Queen returned to Balmoral, where they spent the weekend with their friends David and Myrah b.u.t.ter. Philip, more than the Queen, seemed shaken by the sinking experience of leaving his firstborn at boarding school.

"Prince Philip came into the drawing room," recalled Myrah Wernher b.u.t.ter, who has known him since childhood. "He was white as a sheet. I asked him what was the matter, but he just walked across the room and poured himself a drink, which was very unusual for him. Years later Charles was telling me about what he felt when he sent his son off to school. I told him I understood. He said, 'Oh, that's because you always cared so much. I bet no one ever cared that much about me.' So I told him the story about his father. He was stunned. He just couldn't believe it."

By the time Charles was ready to start school in 1956, his father was fed up. He was tired of fighting the Palace guard, especially for his wife's time and attention. He disliked the courtiers-he called them "old farts"-and resented his wife's dependence on them. She no longer consulted him on court matters, and her pa.s.sivity to his suggestions infuriated him. "Come on, Lilibet. Come on," he would snap. "Just do it. Do it." Exasperated with Palace bureaucracy, he started spending more time with his pals from the Thursday Club. This only hardened the courtiers' opinion of him as a crude adolescent with a predilection for lavatory humor.

"The Duke of Edinburgh is very lewd, very Germanic," said one of the Queen's private secretaries. The haughty courtier attributed "Philip's vulgar German preoccupation with nudity" to his "Mountbatten origins." He cited the photographs that Lord Mountbatten had posed for with Cary Grant in Las Vegas. In the first picture, the two men faced the camera surrounded by gorgeous showgirls swathed in feather boas. In the second picture, the men turned their backs to the camera and so did the show girls, whose rhinestoned-thonged backsides were without feathers. Mountbatten found the picture of the bare-bottomed showgirls so amusing that he had it blown up and hung in the Queen's pa.s.sageway on the royal yacht. Philip, who roared with laughter when he saw it, enjoyed showing it off and would not remove it, even for state guests. "That's his Germanic idea of art and entertainment-naked b.u.t.tocks," said the courtier.

Philip started sharing the London apartment of actor Richard Todd with two other married men during afternoons to entertain young actresses. The three men called themselves "the Three c.o.c.keteers."

"No, I can't talk about what went on in that apartment," said British actor Jack Hedley in 1993. "It's too dangerous to talk about those days-even forty years later."

Philip also used his equerry's flat on South Street. "Mike, or Parker-from-the-Palace, as we called him-that's how he always introduced himself on the phone-was living another life away from his wife and his family, and the parties at his flat were rousing affairs," recalled one man who attended many of the parties. "Yes, Philip was always there and he always had women, but nothing serious. As the French say, les danseuses, les danseuses, which are a rich man's indulgence. Philip usually came with Parker and Baron Nahum, the court photographer, known by his first name. One night, Aristotle Ona.s.sis brought Maria Callas to dinner, and another night Prince Bernhard, married to Queen Juliana of the Netherlands, spent a riotous evening with us." which are a rich man's indulgence. Philip usually came with Parker and Baron Nahum, the court photographer, known by his first name. One night, Aristotle Ona.s.sis brought Maria Callas to dinner, and another night Prince Bernhard, married to Queen Juliana of the Netherlands, spent a riotous evening with us."

"I remember the dinner with Prince Bernhard," recalled Larry Adler. "That's when we all realized how much Philip hated his job as Consort. Throughout dinner Philip kept jabbing at Bernhard: 'Boy, I really envy you,' he said. 'You can go anywhere you like and not be recognized. You can have all the girlfriends you like and no one knows. I can't go anywhere without press vultures and policemen following me.' Bernhard had to leave early that evening to get back to Holland before the airport closed and the field lights were turned off. As he got up to go, Philip bent down and gave him an exaggerated salaam. 'Give my regards to Her Imperial Majesty,' he said. He spat out the last three words with withering scorn. You could tell he identified with Bernhard, who, like Philip, was tied to a short royal leash."

By 1956 Philip had had a bellyful of "pomping," as he referred to court protocol. With his son starting school, his daughter too young to notice, and his wife too busy for him, he felt diminished. He decided to go off on his own for a while. He had been invited to visit Melbourne, Australia, for the opening of the 1956 Olympic games, so he laid out a forty-thousand-mile itinerary around this one event to include visits to The Gambia, the Seych.e.l.les, Malaya, New Guinea, New Zealand, Antarctica, the Falklands, Galapagos Islands, and the West Coast of the United States. He planned to travel for four months with Michael Parker. The two men had been navy shipmates, crewed on the same yachting team, and played cricket on the same team. Parker recently had separated from his wife, and Philip now wanted to be separated from his-geographically, if not matrimonially. So the two grown-up boys planned their trip to the South Pacific with the abandon of Huckleberry Finn and Jim rafting down the Mississippi.

"Philip was born with itchy feet," said the Queen, seemingly unperturbed by his plans. "It's a waste of time trying to change a man's character," she added. "You have to accept your husband as he is."

Her husband presented the cruise as a "diplomatic mission." "This is my personal contribution to the Commonwealth ideal," he said, announcing that he would leave England by air for Momba.s.sa, Kenya, on the east coast of Africa on October 15, 1956, to meet the royal yacht, Britannia, Britannia, with its crew of 275. He would be accompanied by his equerry, Michael Parker, and his friend Baron, the photographer. with its crew of 275. He would be accompanied by his equerry, Michael Parker, and his friend Baron, the photographer.

Several weeks before they left, the forty-nine-year-old court photographer went into the hospital for hip surgery to relieve his arthritis. He wanted to be in good shape for the trip, but a few days after his operation, he died of a heart attack. His fiancee, actress Sally Ann Howes, who had begged him not to undergo the surgery, never forgave Philip.

"Baron was a wonderful guy-witty, debonair, and quite brave," said Larry Adler. "He belonged to the Thursday Club, and he gave Philip his bachelor party. He had been the official photographer for the royal wedding in 1947 and for the coronation in 1953. He felt that if he hadn't been Jewish, he could've married Princess Margaret. He took wonderful pictures of the royal family, and for all of that, he naturally expected a knighthood. But Philip wouldn't do a thing about it-he could have, I think, but he didn't-and the reason was the Queen did not approve of Baron. She thought he got Philip into trouble and helped Philip find girlfriends."

The Duke of Edinburgh, extraordinarily handsome at thirty-five, needed no help attracting women. He needed only privacy, which the cruise provided; it also kicked up a swirl of whispers. His trip to Australia became a sensitive issue for biographers who tried to investigate what happened and for friends who tried to defend him against scurrilous allegations. Even a devout monarchist like Barbara Cartland, who reveres the royal family, talks about a secret love affair that she learned of from Philip's uncle Lord Mountbatten.

"I know all about Philip's illegitimate daughter in Melbourne," she told an interviewer, "but I'm not going to talk about it."

"Look into the boathouse in Sydney that is owned by Lady Mary Ellen Barton," advised an Australian lawyer. "That's the place Philip used for his dalliances."

The stories of Philip's women and his trysts were as many and varied as his ports of call. "A couple of lady typists were flown out to join the boat in Singapore," reported the royal author Brian Hoey. "It was said they didn't do too much typing. They weren't the type."

The rumors dogged Philip from Melbourne to Sydney to Singapore, but as the Queen's husband he carried a certain immunity. No one could touch him without harming her, and no one in Great Britain, not even republicans, wanted to harm the Queen, who in 1956 was still considered inviolate. So despite his protestations to Prince Bernhard, Philip enjoyed a freewheeling life away from the Palace.

On the tour he managed to relax enough to joke about his second-cla.s.s status within his marriage. In Australia a young couple were presented to him as Mr. and Dr. Robinson. Philip looked surprised until Mr. Robinson explained that his wife was a doctor of philosophy and much more important than he. "Ah, yes," said Philip. "We have that trouble in our family, too."

During the cruise, Philip and his equerry had a whisker-growing contest to see who could grow the longest beard; they shot alligators and were photographed tromping around in matching safari suits; they sat on the deck of the Britannia, Britannia, sunbathing, painting at their easels in the afternoon, and drinking gin and tonics in the evening. Philip felt at home on the yacht, which appealed to his sense of neatness and precision. Navy stewards used a tape measure to set the table so that knives, forks, and spoons were lined up evenly with dishes. They wore felt slippers so they would not make noise while delivering his messages. The British press slammed the trip as "Philip's folly," calling it useless, unnecessary, and a luxury that cost the nation "at least two million pounds." sunbathing, painting at their easels in the afternoon, and drinking gin and tonics in the evening. Philip felt at home on the yacht, which appealed to his sense of neatness and precision. Navy stewards used a tape measure to set the table so that knives, forks, and spoons were lined up evenly with dishes. They wore felt slippers so they would not make noise while delivering his messages. The British press slammed the trip as "Philip's folly," calling it useless, unnecessary, and a luxury that cost the nation "at least two million pounds."* Estimating the tour's cost at $11,000 a week, they criticized Philip's "commando raft," created to unload the royal Rolls-Royce in places where no docking facilities were available for automobiles, and they carped about his traveling with his own sports car. "Who pays for it all?" asked one newspaper. Estimating the tour's cost at $11,000 a week, they criticized Philip's "commando raft," created to unload the royal Rolls-Royce in places where no docking facilities were available for automobiles, and they carped about his traveling with his own sports car. "Who pays for it all?" asked one newspaper.

While decrying the expense of the cruise, no one dared publish a word about the women who were entertained on board ship. The Queen's husband was not an indiscreet man, and he certainly had no intention of embarra.s.sing his wife. "He told me the first day he offered me my job," said Michael Parker, "that his his job, first, last, and always, was never to let Her Majesty down." Still, the rumors persisted as Philip cruised the Indian Ocean, missing such family celebrations as his son's eighth birthday, his own ninth wedding anniversary, and the tenth family Christmas. job, first, last, and always, was never to let Her Majesty down." Still, the rumors persisted as Philip cruised the Indian Ocean, missing such family celebrations as his son's eighth birthday, his own ninth wedding anniversary, and the tenth family Christmas.

"The cruise was a brilliant idea of Prince Philip's and deserved much greater recognition," Parker said years later. "The object was to put Britannia Britannia to her greatest use in visiting beleaguered British people deep in the oceans around the world-Ascension, St. Helena, Gough Island, Tristan de Cunha, the Falklands, South Georgia, Chatham Islands, Deception Island, and some bases in Antarctica open only twenty days a year. It was quite a sacrifice for all-our first Christmas away from home since the war to boot." to her greatest use in visiting beleaguered British people deep in the oceans around the world-Ascension, St. Helena, Gough Island, Tristan de Cunha, the Falklands, South Georgia, Chatham Islands, Deception Island, and some bases in Antarctica open only twenty days a year. It was quite a sacrifice for all-our first Christmas away from home since the war to boot."

Near Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), Philip and his equerry watched the world almost explode. Shortly after leaving England, the Britannia Britannia was put on emergency notice to stand by for nine days as the Middle East seemed poised for war over the Suez Ca.n.a.l. Egypt had seized the Ca.n.a.l in July 1956 after the United States withdrew its $56 million commitment to help build the Aswan Dam. The U.S. move enraged Egypt's President, Gamal Abdel Na.s.ser, who then closed the ca.n.a.l to all foreigners. was put on emergency notice to stand by for nine days as the Middle East seemed poised for war over the Suez Ca.n.a.l. Egypt had seized the Ca.n.a.l in July 1956 after the United States withdrew its $56 million commitment to help build the Aswan Dam. The U.S. move enraged Egypt's President, Gamal Abdel Na.s.ser, who then closed the ca.n.a.l to all foreigners.

"I look at Americans and say: May you choke to death on your fury!" Na.s.ser roared. "The annual income of the Suez Ca.n.a.l is $100 million. Why not take it ourselves? We shall rely on our own strength, our own muscle, our own funds. And it will be run by Egyptians! Egyptians! Egyptians!"

Of the 1.5 million barrels of oil that pa.s.sed through the ca.n.a.l each day, 1.2 million went to Western Europe. So, in nationalizing the ca.n.a.l, Na.s.ser had choked off the chief source of petroleum for England and France. Fearful for their survival and spoiling for retaliation, the two countries joined secretly with Israel, also menaced by the Arabs, to seize the ca.n.a.l. On October 29, 1956, Israel's armored tanks plowed across the Sinai and attacked Egypt, giving Britain and France the excuse they needed. The next day they declared that fighting in the Middle East threatened international navigation and demanded both sides withdraw from the Suez within twenty-four hours. Egypt refused, and on October 31, 1956, the British and French started bombing. Five days later they dropped fifty thousand paratroops on Port Said, Egypt, at the mouth of the ca.n.a.l.

The Britannia, Britannia, officially designated as a hospital ship during war, suspended its cruise. Philip was in constant radio contact with the Palace, which relayed hourly news bulletins. He learned that most of the world opposed the Anglo-French alliance with Israel and their use of military force. At the United Nations, America, England's staunchest ally, denounced the invasion, and Britain's currency plummeted. Still, England and France continued to veto the UN's cease-fire proposals. Finally the White House made it clear that if they continued to use force, the United States would not support them. Just as terrifying to England, France, and Israel was the hectoring threat from Russia to "crush the aggressors" and "restore peace... through the use of force." With no U.S. support and the rest of the world against them, they yielded and announced a cease-fire. officially designated as a hospital ship during war, suspended its cruise. Philip was in constant radio contact with the Palace, which relayed hourly news bulletins. He learned that most of the world opposed the Anglo-French alliance with Israel and their use of military force. At the United Nations, America, England's staunchest ally, denounced the invasion, and Britain's currency plummeted. Still, England and France continued to veto the UN's cease-fire proposals. Finally the White House made it clear that if they continued to use force, the United States would not support them. Just as terrifying to England, France, and Israel was the hectoring threat from Russia to "crush the aggressors" and "restore peace... through the use of force." With no U.S. support and the rest of the world against them, they yielded and announced a cease-fire.

The Queen was too young and inexperienced to exercise her royal prerogative and advise her new Prime Minister, Anthony Eden. Instead she listened to him and accepted his proposals. She knew that he had been brilliant as Winston Churchill's Foreign Secretary but did not realize he was in over his head as Prime Minister. Struggling on five hours of sleep a night, he became addicted to amphetamines, which distorted his judgment. She was at the racetrack when his messenger reached her with an urgent proclamation requiring her signature, calling out army reserves. In between horse races, she signed. Britain was ready to go to war.

"In a few weeks' time," predicted Laborite John Strachey, "this country is going to wake up to the fact that we have marched into Egypt, marched out of Egypt, caused the ca.n.a.l to be blocked, stopped our oil, made every Arab in the world into an enemy, opened the Middle East to Russian penetration, split the Commonwealth, quarreled with the Americans, and ruined ourselves-all for nothing."

Prime Minister Eden collapsed and flew to Jamaica in December to recuperate. Randolph Churchill compared Eden's leadership to Hitler's in marching his troops to Stalingrad and leaving them there to freeze to death. "Except," said Winston Churchill's son, "Hitler, with all his faults, did not winter in Jamaica." Sir Anthony returned three weeks later to find gas lines blocking the roads as a result of emergency rationing brought on by the crisis. The next month he resigned as Prime Minister. As his replacement, the Queen chose Chancellor of the Exchequer Harold Macmillan.

The country was reeling from international humiliation. The British press lashed out at everyone connected with the debacle. Even Philip, thousands of miles away, was berated for not being at his wife's side. But the Queen said privately that she was relieved not to have her husband around. "I'm glad he wasn't here," she said. "All h.e.l.l would have broken loose."

After four months on board the Britannia, Britannia, Philip headed for a family reunion in Lisbon with his wife before their state visit to Portugal. First he had to stop in Gibraltar to say good-bye to his equerry, who was no longer allowed to be in the Queen's presence. Days before, news of Michael Parker's divorce had leaked and the press was full of stories that his wife, Eileen, was suing him for s.e.xual misconduct and demanding alimony on the grounds of alleged adultery. He was forced to resign. Philip raged about the hypocrisy of a broken marriage being an impediment to royal service when the former Prime Minister, Sir Anthony Eden, had been married twice and divorced. Philip pleaded with his equerry to reconsider because he could not bear to lose the one person who was his friend and ally in the Palace, but both men knew, and Philip later admitted, that Parker "had to go," especially after the Townsend affair. The Queen's courtiers demanded that the equerry be put ash.o.r.e before Philip's reunion with the Queen. Furious at having to follow their orders, Philip insisted on accompanying his friend to the airport in Gibraltar. "It's the least I can do," he said. He looked unhappy as he emerged from a government limousine with Parker. Philip walked him to his waiting plane, and in front of reporters, Philip headed for a family reunion in Lisbon with his wife before their state visit to Portugal. First he had to stop in Gibraltar to say good-bye to his equerry, who was no longer allowed to be in the Queen's presence. Days before, news of Michael Parker's divorce had leaked and the press was full of stories that his wife, Eileen, was suing him for s.e.xual misconduct and demanding alimony on the grounds of alleged adultery. He was forced to resign. Philip raged about the hypocrisy of a broken marriage being an impediment to royal service when the former Prime Minister, Sir Anthony Eden, had been married twice and divorced. Philip pleaded with his equerry to reconsider because he could not bear to lose the one person who was his friend and ally in the Palace, but both men knew, and Philip later admitted, that Parker "had to go," especially after the Townsend affair. The Queen's courtiers demanded that the equerry be put ash.o.r.e before Philip's reunion with the Queen. Furious at having to follow their orders, Philip insisted on accompanying his friend to the airport in Gibraltar. "It's the least I can do," he said. He looked unhappy as he emerged from a government limousine with Parker. Philip walked him to his waiting plane, and in front of reporters,* he clasped his hand in silence. Parker forced a smile, bounded up the steps without a backward glance, and flew to London, where he held a press conference with his lawyer. he clasped his hand in silence. Parker forced a smile, bounded up the steps without a backward glance, and flew to London, where he held a press conference with his lawyer.

Waiting for him at the London airport was the Queen's formidable press secretary, Commander Richard Colville. The equerry brightened when he saw the courtier and approached to thank him for coming to run interference with the reporters. The press secretary cut him off before he could say a word and made it clear that he was not there to help him.

"h.e.l.lo, Parker," said Colville. "I've just come to let you know that from now on, you're on your own." That said, Colville turned and walked away.

In Lisbon the Queen's plane circled the airfield because the Queen's husband was running late. On board the Viscount airliner, Her Majesty and her twenty-five pa.s.sengers, including Foreign Secretary Selwyn Lloyd, and all her ladies-in-waiting, giggled as they pasted fake beards on their chins in preparation for Philip's arrival. He had sent the Queen a picture of himself after weeks without a shave. "It was the Queen's idea," said one of the women. "She has a wonderful sense of humor."

At the time, few people around the throne were laughing. The press in Germany, France, and Italy had published another round of stories about the Duke of Edinburgh's "bachelor apartment close to London's famous Berkeley Square" and questioned whether the weekly dinner parties of the Thursday Club that met "in the infamous Soho district" had been confined to Philip's male friends. On February 5, 1957, the Evening Standard Evening Standard of London had implied a less-than-happy marriage by reporting that Philip had ordered a new bed for his room at Windsor Castle. The bed was made to his exact specifications ("It's a of London had implied a less-than-happy marriage by reporting that Philip had ordered a new bed for his room at Windsor Castle. The bed was made to his exact specifications ("It's a single single bed," reported the newspaper). Other than mentioning that the Queen "rode alone" in Windsor Great Park and opened Parliament "without her husband by her side," the British press had remained silent about the Queen's rocky marriage and relied on the American press to spread the bad news. On February 8, 1957, the bed," reported the newspaper). Other than mentioning that the Queen "rode alone" in Windsor Great Park and opened Parliament "without her husband by her side," the British press had remained silent about the Queen's rocky marriage and relied on the American press to spread the bad news. On February 8, 1957, the Baltimore Sun Baltimore Sun delivered. The story ran on the front page under the headline "London Rumors of Rift in Royal Family Growing." Filed by the paper's London correspondent, Joan Graham, the article linked Michael Parker's resignation to whispers that the Duke of Edinburgh had had more than a pa.s.sing interest in an unmarried woman and had met her regularly in the apartment of the late royal photographer, the Duke's friend Baron Nahum. a.s.serting that rumors about the splintered royal marriage "are now percolating down to the British ma.s.ses, who only know about the royal family from what is printed in the British press," the dispatch concluded the real reason for the four-month cruise was that Philip "was being got out of the country to cool down." delivered. The story ran on the front page under the headline "London Rumors of Rift in Royal Family Growing." Filed by the paper's London correspondent, Joan Graham, the article linked Michael Parker's resignation to whispers that the Duke of Edinburgh had had more than a pa.s.sing interest in an unmarried woman and had met her regularly in the apartment of the late royal photographer, the Duke's friend Baron Nahum. a.s.serting that rumors about the splintered royal marriage "are now percolating down to the British ma.s.ses, who only know about the royal family from what is printed in the British press," the dispatch concluded the real reason for the four-month cruise was that Philip "was being got out of the country to cool down."

The Queen, who according to people close to her had been troubled enough about her marriage to consult a psychiatrist three times during this period, acted stunned. "How can they say such terrible things about us?" she asked her dresser, BoBo MacDonald. The Palace courtiers became concerned, thinking the monarchy was being sullied. Commander Richard Colville, the Queen's press secretary, quickly denounced the story. "It is quite untrue that there is a rift between the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh," he said. "It's a lie." His denial was reported around the world with a recapitulation of the offending story, which insured that the Queen's strained marriage now became international news.

The British press took exception. "We could not drag even a simple denial out of the palace for the British public," said an editorial in the London Daily Herald. London Daily Herald. "For Americans, a denial. For the British people, no comment. The Queen's subjects were evidently not supposed to know." The "For Americans, a denial. For the British people, no comment. The Queen's subjects were evidently not supposed to know." The Daily Mirror Daily Mirror blamed the Queen's courtiers: "They need lessons on how to handle a hot potato." blamed the Queen's courtiers: "They need lessons on how to handle a hot potato."

The next day the Queen put on her public face, and the United Press reported from London that she "was amused" by the rumors of a rift between her and her husband. "The Queen shrugged off the story," UP said, "and gave the impression that her reunion with the Duke in Portugal after the longest separation of their marriage would effectively squelch further gossip.... Anyone with eyes to see will know then how wrong the stories are."

A horde of reporters and photographers swarmed into Lisbon to watch the royal reunion at the airport. Philip was already irascible about the press coverage he had received, which compared him-unfavorably-with Queen Victoria's husband, Albert. Victoria had included him in her meetings with ministers and allowed him to read her state papers. At first Philip joked about his lack of status. "Const.i.tutionally, I don't exist," he said. But when he arrived in Lisbon and saw the press waiting for him, he stopped chuckling. "Those b.l.o.o.d.y lies that you people print to make money," he snapped. "These lies about how I'm never with my wife."

Running five minutes late, he bounded up the steps to the Queen's airplane two at a time. He was wearing a suit, a white shirt, a tie, and a bronze tan with a small white shadow around his chin where he had obviously just shaved off his beard.

An hour later he emerged from the plane with a faint smudge of lipstick on his cheek and smilingly a.s.sumed his position a few paces behind the Queen. They spent the weekend together on the Britannia, Britannia, anch.o.r.ed in the choppy waters of the river Sado, which was a big concession on the Queen's part. Never a sailor, she was afraid of water and usually avoided the yacht because she was p.r.o.ne to seasickness, but on this weekend she was determined to accommodate her sea-loving husband. Knowing their schedule was set for the next two years, she decided that after their royal tour of Canada in 1959, she would concentrate on her ambition to have four children. She also would change the rules regarding her family name so that her descendants not in direct line for the throne would carry her husband's name and be known as Mountbatten-Windsor. anch.o.r.ed in the choppy waters of the river Sado, which was a big concession on the Queen's part. Never a sailor, she was afraid of water and usually avoided the yacht because she was p.r.o.ne to seasickness, but on this weekend she was determined to accommodate her sea-loving husband. Knowing their schedule was set for the next two years, she decided that after their royal tour of Canada in 1959, she would concentrate on her ambition to have four children. She also would change the rules regarding her family name so that her descendants not in direct line for the throne would carry her husband's name and be known as Mountbatten-Windsor.

After their four-day state visit to Portugal, the royal couple returned to England, where the Queen made a rare public display of affection. She rewarded her husband for his service to the Commonwealth by issuing a proclamation that granted him the t.i.tle and t.i.tular dignity of a Prince of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland. She declared that henceforth he would be known as the Prince Philip* Duke of Edinburgh. She no longer wanted him treated as a mere adjunct or royal accessory. Except for sharing her sacrosanct red boxes and her weekly meetings with the Prime Minister, she made her husband a full partner in her monarchy. She even insisted that when Philip attended royal functions alone, he was to get the complete first verse of the National Anthem, no longer the abbreviated version. Duke of Edinburgh. She no longer wanted him treated as a mere adjunct or royal accessory. Except for sharing her sacrosanct red boxes and her weekly meetings with the Prime Minister, she made her husband a full partner in her monarchy. She even insisted that when Philip attended royal functions alone, he was to get the complete first verse of the National Anthem, no longer the abbreviated version.

Feeling enn.o.bled, Philip delivered a self-serving speech a few days later, to justify the four months he had spent away from his wife and children. "I believe there are some things for which it is worthwhile making personal sacrifices, and I believe that the British Commonwealth is one of those things, and I, for one, am prepared to sacrifice a good deal if by doing so, I can advance its well-being by even a small degree.... I might have got home for Christmas, but I could not have entertained nearly 1,400 people in the Queen's yacht from Australia, New Zealand, and those remote communities at twenty-six lunches, dinners, and receptions, and thereby strengthened, I hope, the close links which exist between the Crown and the people of the Commonwealth."

Those close links were severely strained by the Suez invasion, which had so damaged Britain's reputation for morality in international politics that the Queen was forced to help pick up the pieces. She made four state visits during 1957 to Portugal, France, Denmark, and Canada. In October her new Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, urged a visit to the United States to try to repair the damage she had allowed her country to wreak on that alliance. "A visit by the Queen is worth one hundred diplomats," said the Prime Minister, who was eager to mend relations between the two countries. And he wanted to persuade the Americans to share their nuclear weapons technology.

The Queen was not eager to add yet another state visit to her schedule until the Prime Minister shrewdly showed her a cartoon that had appeared in America after it became known that England had duped the United States by conspiring with France and Israel in the Suez invasion. The cartoon showed President Eisenhower sitting at his desk in the Oval Office. The former Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in Europe during World War II had said he always regarded England as "an old and trusted friend." Now, obviously distraught, he was holding his head in his hands. The cutline read "Great Britain Is No Longer Great."