His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

Earl of Caithness Excerpts

Monday 12th April 2021 Lords Chamber

[The Earl of Caithness (Con) [V]]

My Lords, my father was privileged to be the factor at Balmoral from 1955 to 1965, and that was where I spent my happy childhood. My memories of His Royal Highness are therefore those of a boy aged between 10 and 17. I particularly remember the kindness with which His Royal Highness and Her Majesty treated our family, in particular my father after he lost a leg in 1960 due to a thrombosis. He was kept on in employment for another five years. That is quite normal now, but in the 1960s it was most unusual. It was a gesture way ahead of its time and very much appreciated by all of us.

I also remember His Royal Highness as a young parent—my father was 15 years older than him. When Prince Philip appeared, active and energetic as always, there was a noticeable contrast, and that rather struck me when I was a boy. The thought that one might meet him was always daunting, but when I actually did, it was a totally different feeling: he had the unique ability that some people have to make one feel totally at ease. Even as a difficult child between the ages of 10 and 17, you felt that you were the most important person in the world and that he wanted to talk to you rather than somebody much more important. It was an amazing ability that he had, and if some of us could pass that on in how we treat our grandchildren, the world might become a happier place.

I also remember going to a barbecue and being slightly amazed that the person doing the cooking was Prince Philip—that too was unusual in the early 1960s. Not only that but Her Majesty was doing the washing up as some of the dirty pans were passed her way. It is a wonderful memory to have. On another occasion, we were on the hill and I happened to be sitting next to Prince Philip—I remember him sitting there with his binoculars fixed to his eyes—and he pointed out some rare bird. It did not mean very much to me at the time, but what sunk in was that what he was doing was important. Along with my father, he certainly helped generate in me the interest that I have in conservation and the environment.

Another memory is dancing. His Royal Highness was an extremely good dancer. I remember our various little dancing lessons to teach Prince Charles and Princess Anne how to do Scottish reels and Scottish country dancing, which he knew very well. He was always there to encourage and cajole, and to bring the best out of the young and get them to do it in the way that they should.

Returning to conservation, it was that for which I will remember His Royal Highness the most—the days with Sir Peter Scott and my late friend Lord Buxton of Alsa. It was Prince Philip who narrated “The Enchanted Isles”, about the Galapagos Islands, in 1967, breaking new ground by presenting on television a hugely important documentary about the islands. I think that it is due largely to Prince Philip that the Galapagos Islands and the rare species there have survived and thrived in the way they have. Thank you, sir, for that.

In this country, it was in the World Wide Fund for Nature and the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust, among others, that he took a huge interest. He demonstrated that himself. At Sandringham, he increased the wild partridge population, but, more than that, he knew that if he increased the number of partridges, he would increase the survival chances of lots of other species that were equally threatened. It was not until I became a chartered surveyor that I realised that in what he was doing at Balmoral in the 1960s, with the preservation of the Caledonian Forest and the regeneration of some of the heather moorland that had gone backwards, how advanced and forward thinking he was on those fronts.

I was immensely privileged to have that childhood and am extraordinarily grateful to His Royal Highness and Her Majesty for their kindness to our family and for what he taught me. If I can pass on just a fraction of that, I will be a happy man.