His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

Lord Newby Excerpts

Monday 12th April 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Newby (LD)]

My Lords, trying to sum up the life of Prince Philip and his contribution to our national life in a few minutes is quite a challenge. But a good place to start is Prince Philip’s own views on the matter. When asked to sum up his contribution to public life, he responded with typical frankness:

“I've just done what I think is my best. Some people think it's all right. Some don't. What can you do? I can't change my way of doing things. It's part of my style. It's just too bad, they'll have to lump it.”


For Prince Philip, doing one’s best had several distinct components. He obviously did his best as a loyal, steadfast, and supportive consort to his wife. Given his early naval career, to fulfil the role of Queen’s consort clearly required a major gear change. That cannot have been easy, yet he did it with great devotion and aplomb. When people look back on this Elizabethan age, they will see how much it was sustained by the extremely close partnership between Prince Philip and the Queen.

But while fulfilling the role of consort with great dedication, he took a leaf out of Prince Albert’s book and devoted a huge amount of energy to a wide range of causes and positions which sought to improve the lives of people and protect our planet. The work he did over many years with WWF was ground-breaking and his views about the interconnectedness of all species and the responsibility which we have to protect them, although commonplace now, were widely pooh-poohed at the time.

As we have heard, his sponsorship of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme was even more significant; it has touched and transformed the lives of millions of young people across the country and the world. For me, without the scheme I would not know how to do a fireman’s lift, would never have struggled to put up a tent on the Yorkshire Moors in a howling gale, would never have tried to coax a reluctant Primus stove into life. Some of these skills have proved more useful in later life than others but, as with everyone else who has participated in the scheme—sadly, in my case, only to bronze level—it gave me a broadening of horizons, a greater sense of self-reliance and a greater awareness of the natural world. For me, the scheme was a useful complement to adolescence but, for many more, it was a life changer and even a lifesaver. Of course, Prince Philip had a formal connection with literally hundreds of charities and other bodies, all of which have expressed their gratitude to the contribution he made to their work.

My own experience of being with the Duke of Edinburgh is limited to the period when I was Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard and so attended various functions at various palaces. My wife was also able to join me at some of these. When introduced to the Duke of Edinburgh for the first time, Ailsa was asked where we lived. She replied that she was rector of Putney and that we therefore lived there. “Good heavens,” he exclaimed, “are there Christians in Putney?”

The last time I was in his company was at a formal dinner at St James’s Palace for members of the Yeomen of the Guard and their wives. It was a bitterly cold winter evening and the Queen and Duke—already in his 90s—came from Buckingham Palace, in formal evening dress, and spent about 45 minutes talking to groups of yeomen and their wives. They did so with great energy, put everyone at ease and really engaged in this series of short conversations. As the Queen and Duke left, I escorted them part of the way and then left them to make their way out down a long corridor. Watching them from behind, I could make out an animated conversation and an occasional chuckle. They had enjoyed it but, more importantly, they had made all those to whom they had spoken feel special and valued. To have a monarch and consort who, over many decades, have together and individually made people from the widest possible range of groups across our society feel special and valued has been a huge blessing for this country.

Today we send our condolences to the Queen and the Royal Family for a personal loss. But as a country we mourn the passing and celebrate the achievements of someone who for over 70 years sought to develop the individual spirit and promote the common good.