His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

Adam Afriyie Excerpts

Monday 12th April 2021 Commons Chamber

[Adam Afriyie (Windsor) (Con) [V]]

I must first send my condolences to Her Majesty the Queen and the royal family from the Windsor constituency.

His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, was a striking man: tall, energetic, colourful, plain-speaking and utterly dedicated to Her Majesty and his duties to the nation and the Commonwealth. His patronage was far-ranging and long-lasting, and is evident across the Windsor constituency, including parts of Bracknell Forest, Poyle, Colnbrook, Horton and Wraysbury. It seems to me, judging from my postbag and my interactions with my constituents, that most of them had a personal interaction or a story or a connection with Prince Philip.

His patronage extends far and wide, from the Duke of Edinburgh Awards to Windsor hockey club, Home Park cricket club, Windsor rugby football club, the Windsor and Eton choral society and the Windsor Forest Bowmen. Anyone who has visited the Windsor constituency will be familiar with the Great Park, where Prince Philip was the park ranger. He had an ability to put people at ease. His plain-speaking style and his sense of humour seemed to cut through discourse to ensure that people felt comfortable and connected in double-quick time.

As the MP for Windsor, I have had many opportunities to interact with Prince Philip and Her Majesty, and each occasion has been a striking moment. I will recount just two for the House. Shortly after I was first elected in 2005, I had my first engagement with Prince Philip. I was terribly nervous, and I think that he could see that. I was not quite sure what to say—I was not sure of the protocol. He walked straight over, looked me in the eye and said, “So how’s life in that madhouse?” It was so unexpected that I burst out laughing. From that moment, I realised this his plain-speaking style—that directness—was a really good technique to put people at ease. From that moment on, we conversed in a very natural way—sometimes in a very opinionated way—but it was really, really helpful.

Secondly, we have heard about many prestigious occasions and Prince Philip’s far-ranging patronage, but we should also remember that he attended many other kinds of events. We have some wonderful buildings in the Windsor constituency. Obviously, we have Windsor castle, but we also have the Grundon energy-from-waste incinerator plant. As anyone who has been past the constituency will know, the plant has this massive chimney—pumping out clean air, of course.

I was invited with the Prince to the opening of the new incinerator, and we had a fantastic tour around the premises. When it came time to say a few words, I glanced over at Prince Philip and saw a twinkle in his eye, and I knew it was going to be an interesting speech. We were presented with beautiful little glass images of the Colnbrook incinerator; they are actually quite nice. He made a lovely speech, and then he held up the little glass model and said, “When I open the curtains in the morning, the first thing I see is the Colnbrook incinerator, but now—do you know what? I won’t even need to open the curtains. I shall keep this by my bed.” It was that kind of presentational style that made him an approachable, attractive character with whom one could be at ease. He has left a huge void at the heart of the royal family, as Her Majesty has said, and a notable absence in the Windsor constituency, across the country and in the Commonwealth.