The Queen’s bridesmaid and former lady-in-waiting, Lady Pamela Hicks has revealed that Prince Philip used to “show off” around the Queen and her sister Princess Margaret when they were younger.
Hicks, 92, who is the cousin of the late Duke of Edinburgh, hosted a panel with her daughter, India Hicks called “70 Years of Duty and Friendship” on Friday evening, discussing her life-long friendship with Her Majesty.
The talk was to celebrate the 70th anniversary since the Queen acceded to the throne, which will be marked on Sunday 6 February.
Lady Pamela is the daughter of Lord Louis Mountbatten and the great-great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria.
During the talk, India noted that Mountbatten thought Philip and the then-Princess Elizabeth would be a good match.
India said to her mother: “Your father, my grandfather, had already thought it might be quite a good thing. They met when she went to visit Dartmouth College at 13 and already then she was rather struck by Prince Philip.”
Lady Pamela replied: “Well, he was a Greek god, and of course, showing off like mad because he was told to look after the two princesses, and so he showed off like mad. Later, every girl in England was in love with him. He really was stunning.”
India countered, saying the British court “had trouble” because Prince Philip was “a Greek prince with no money, no position in court and in fact he was pretty homeless”.
Lady Pamela agreed, adding: “They were horrified! Where was the upright Scottish or English nobleman or duke she should be marrying? Not carrying on with a penniless Greek prince.”
Winston Churchill, who was the Queen’s first prime minister, was also said to be “against” the Duke.
India said: “This Queen was mentored by Winston Churchill but he was quite against the Duke of Edinburgh, but she fought for him.”
Lady Pamela added that the Queen had a “hard battle” to get Philip employed and that the courtiers “did not make him feel welcome”.
“Churchill really was very constructive and felt the penniless Greek prince should be kept in the background and the Queen was too young and inexperienced to have the strength to argue with him,” Lady Pamela said. “So it was a few years before she felt competent enough to say she wanted Philip to have a job and be employed.”
Towards the end of the discussion, Lady Pamela reflected on her friendship with the Queen, concluding: “To know the Queen is to admire her above all else.”
