As Queen Elizabeth II's husband, Prince Philip lived his life in the spotlight. The former Duke of Edinburgh died on April 9, 2021, at the age of 99, just two months shy of his 100th birthday. And according to one royal biographer, the very active Prince Philip reportedly needed one thing to help him deal with his "pent-up frustrations."
In the book The Last Queen: Elizabeth II's Seventy Year Battle to Save the House of Windsor, royal biographer Clive Irving discussed how Prince Philip handled living in his wife's shadow.
"Behind Philip's life of 'many activities and interests,' there were persisting frustrations," Irving shared.
As for how the prince mitigated those frustrations, the biographer explained, "[Artist and osteopath Stephen] Ward had mentioned seeing [Philip] play polo. People who watched him were struck by the merciless way he treated his ponies."
One polo player described Philip's behavior, saying, "He drives it, and he wants a machine out in front of him so when he steps on the throttle it goes, when he brakes, it stops, and it goes fast left or right."
Irving continued, "Another noted that he 'needed to play polo to get rid of all of his pent-up frustrations...but after a few games he would be a different man—the frustration gone.'"
According to Irving, Philip had a plethora of different frustrations, including the direction of his son, King Charles.
"The Queen had ceded to Philip all decisions on the education that her children should receive, believing this to be the natural order of family responsibilities," the biographer explained.
Irving continued, "In one respect Philip did not follow the customary choice of the upper-class and the most socially ambitious parents by sending his son to Eton. Philip believed that his own education, Cheam followed by Gordonstoun, would produce the best outcome—which was, apparently, a replica of himself, or what could be called the Mountbatten model of manliness."
Unfortunately, King Charles "did not fit happily into" his father's model of what his schooling and future should look like, allegedly causing Philip additional frustration.
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