0:00:06 > 0:00:09Tomorrow, Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, will turn 90.
0:00:09 > 0:00:13After standing at the Queen's side for nearly 60 years,
0:00:13 > 0:00:15he's recognised the world over,
0:00:15 > 0:00:20and has become the longest-serving consort in British history.
0:00:21 > 0:00:24But who exactly is the Duke?
0:00:25 > 0:00:28On the distant Pacific island of Tanna,
0:00:28 > 0:00:31the islanders think he's a god.
0:00:32 > 0:00:35A status reinforced by a series of photographs,
0:00:35 > 0:00:38some sent by the Duke himself.
0:00:43 > 0:00:46Here, at home, his status is rather more down to earth.
0:00:46 > 0:00:51He's familiar as the man who always stands two steps behind the Queen,
0:00:51 > 0:00:54just occasionally with his foot in his mouth.
0:00:56 > 0:01:00'But the true picture of the Duke is more interesting,
0:01:00 > 0:01:02'more complex and more surprising.'
0:01:03 > 0:01:07I've been observing the Duke at various events over the last six months,
0:01:07 > 0:01:10and the mythology surrounding him is extraordinary.
0:01:10 > 0:01:12For a start, most people think he's Greek.
0:01:12 > 0:01:14He's not.
0:01:14 > 0:01:18Most people think his life is limited to shaking hands on official visits.
0:01:18 > 0:01:20It isn't.
0:01:20 > 0:01:22Most people think he's irascible,
0:01:22 > 0:01:25with an unfortunate tendency to say the wrong thing.
0:01:25 > 0:01:28Well, maybe some of that's true. But one thing's certain -
0:01:28 > 0:01:29he doesn't suffer fools gladly,
0:01:29 > 0:01:32and he has a fearsome reputation when it comes to interviews.
0:01:32 > 0:01:36I'm on my way now to talk to him about his life and career,
0:01:36 > 0:01:39and I must admit, I'm feeling a little bit terrified.
0:01:55 > 0:01:56He's formidable.
0:01:56 > 0:02:01He's daunting, partly because of his position,
0:02:01 > 0:02:06but also because he is a very considerable intellect.
0:02:06 > 0:02:09The first time I met him it was absolutely clear
0:02:09 > 0:02:13that if you turned up and you hadn't mastered the papers
0:02:13 > 0:02:17he would detect it very quickly and you would be in trouble!
0:02:21 > 0:02:23Get him on a bad day and it's quite hard work.
0:02:23 > 0:02:28Get him on a good day, and you don't want to be with anybody else.
0:02:29 > 0:02:31I hope you have a good day.
0:02:32 > 0:02:36My father, purely and simply, is very modest about himself
0:02:36 > 0:02:38and doesn't believe in talking about himself.
0:02:38 > 0:02:40One of his best pieces of advice is,
0:02:40 > 0:02:43"Talk about everything else, don't talk about yourself.
0:02:43 > 0:02:45"Nobody's interested in you."
0:02:46 > 0:02:50Meeting him is rather extraordinary, because you get the impression
0:02:50 > 0:02:53of meeting a bird of prey, a hawk or an eagle.
0:02:53 > 0:02:56There's something penetrating about the eyes.
0:02:56 > 0:02:59You feel you're being sort of scanned.
0:02:59 > 0:03:04You raise your game. You rather hope he'll like you.
0:03:07 > 0:03:12What I really want to know is whether these perceptions of the Duke are in any way accurate.
0:03:36 > 0:03:39'The Duke of Edinburgh has been seen in many roles.
0:03:40 > 0:03:45'He was the dashing naval officer who wooed a princess...
0:03:46 > 0:03:51'..the moderniser at the heart of the 20th-century monarchy,
0:03:51 > 0:03:55'the man who created the Duke of Edinburgh's Award,
0:03:55 > 0:03:59'and the champion of the early environmental movement.'
0:04:01 > 0:04:04- I present Fiona Bruce. - Your Royal Highness...
0:04:04 > 0:04:07'But as the Duke approaches his milestone birthday,
0:04:07 > 0:04:11'what intrigues me is how he shows so little sign of slowing down.
0:04:11 > 0:04:13'Still a force of nature.'
0:04:15 > 0:04:20- Um... You're 90 this year. Do you...?- Well done!
0:04:20 > 0:04:22I know, I've managed to do my maths!
0:04:22 > 0:04:24Could you say there are any things that...
0:04:24 > 0:04:27that, above all the things you've done,
0:04:27 > 0:04:30that you are particularly proud of
0:04:30 > 0:04:34or that you would like people to think of as your greatest achievements?
0:04:34 > 0:04:37No, that's asking... No, that's asking too much.
0:04:37 > 0:04:40But the role that you have to an extent carved out for yourself...
0:04:40 > 0:04:44I think the perception is that you've made a huge success of it, I mean...
0:04:44 > 0:04:48- Splendid, if that's what you think. - Is that what you think?
0:04:48 > 0:04:51I couldn't care less! HE CHUCKLES
0:04:51 > 0:04:54Who cares what I think about it? I mean, it's ridiculous.
0:04:54 > 0:04:57- But of course, of course we care!- No. It isn't.
0:04:59 > 0:05:01There must be few figures in the public eye
0:05:01 > 0:05:03who are as reluctant as the Duke
0:05:03 > 0:05:06to trumpet their own achievements.
0:05:07 > 0:05:09Modest and to the point,
0:05:09 > 0:05:13this bird of prey is always alert to what is going on around him.
0:05:13 > 0:05:16The Queen and the Duke certainly do seem particularly at ease here,
0:05:16 > 0:05:18it was the Duke himself who decided
0:05:18 > 0:05:22that they should spend the actual day of their anniversary on Malta.
0:05:22 > 0:05:27For this very private of public couples, quite a romantic gesture.
0:05:29 > 0:05:33Finished? SHE LAUGHS
0:05:33 > 0:05:34How are you, sir?
0:05:34 > 0:05:37- Are you well, sir? - Well, do I look ill?
0:05:37 > 0:05:41That rather bittersweet relationship with the media
0:05:41 > 0:05:44has become familiar, almost a caricature.
0:05:46 > 0:05:47And yet there was a time
0:05:47 > 0:05:51when he embraced the power of television with open arms.
0:05:51 > 0:05:55In the '50s and '60s, he was a pioneer in the new era
0:05:55 > 0:06:01of mass communication, pushing a slightly dusty monarchy into the modern age.
0:06:05 > 0:06:10In 1955, an informal Duke was filmed playing "sorcerer's apprentice"
0:06:10 > 0:06:13with Tommy Cooper, at the Variety Club.
0:06:13 > 0:06:15LAUGHTER
0:06:18 > 0:06:21He went on to become the first member of the Royal Family
0:06:21 > 0:06:23to give a TV interview...
0:06:23 > 0:06:26What you're really out to do is to change the way of thinking.
0:06:26 > 0:06:29We know perfectly well that people in this country
0:06:29 > 0:06:32have got a remarkable talent for things if they learn how to do them.
0:06:32 > 0:06:38..and, in 1957, the first to present his own television show.
0:06:38 > 0:06:4040 minutes to get round the world.
0:06:40 > 0:06:43Well, it's going to be a bit of a rush.
0:06:43 > 0:06:45It may leave you a little bit muddled,
0:06:45 > 0:06:47but I don't think it matters very much.
0:06:47 > 0:06:49In this programme,
0:06:49 > 0:06:52the Duke discussed the highlights of his recent world tour.
0:06:52 > 0:06:54It's a dried one. This is the nut, so to speak,
0:06:54 > 0:06:57rather like a dried coconut.
0:06:57 > 0:07:00A very peculiar shape, as you can see.
0:07:01 > 0:07:05And of course people think that's the forbidden fruit.
0:07:05 > 0:07:08I tasted one rather like that,
0:07:08 > 0:07:09it's a sort of jelly inside,
0:07:09 > 0:07:12and I can tell you it's... I'm not surprised it's forbidden.
0:07:14 > 0:07:17Later that year, he was asked to present a rather more
0:07:17 > 0:07:20scientific film on the geophysics of the planet.
0:07:20 > 0:07:23It was called the Restless Sphere.
0:07:23 > 0:07:26And now to the most important of all, the atmosphere
0:07:26 > 0:07:32and the sun. This inner ring here shows the upper limit of our weather
0:07:32 > 0:07:33and the clouds.
0:07:33 > 0:07:38'I was the anchorman for the thing, which was fascinating,'
0:07:38 > 0:07:41and I had to introduce each little section.
0:07:41 > 0:07:45I did, but it was the hottest day of the year
0:07:45 > 0:07:49and I managed to get out of the studio while the bits in-between were going on
0:07:49 > 0:07:52to cool down, came back, turned over two pages of script
0:07:52 > 0:07:56and left somebody out who was at the top of Mont Blanc waiting to be introduced.
0:07:56 > 0:07:58Which was a bit awkward.
0:07:58 > 0:08:00I suspect... You know, people's memories are short,
0:08:00 > 0:08:03and I suspect many people now will either not know
0:08:03 > 0:08:07because they'll be too young or they may not remember that you, you know,
0:08:07 > 0:08:12you did that kind of thing, that you did a press conference, that television programme,
0:08:12 > 0:08:15because I can't imagine you wanting to do anything like that now,
0:08:15 > 0:08:19- or even in the last 15, 20 years. - How very perceptive of you!
0:08:19 > 0:08:22- What's changed? - I didn't want to do this either!
0:08:22 > 0:08:26- You didn't want to do this interview?- No!
0:08:26 > 0:08:31- So what made you...- Since you ask! - What made you say yes?
0:08:31 > 0:08:34Well, I don't know, it was... It was, I don't know,
0:08:34 > 0:08:38it was part of the business, I suppose, there was an inevitability about it.
0:08:43 > 0:08:47Following his early forays into television in the 1950s,
0:08:47 > 0:08:52the Duke saw the potential of using this modern means of communication.
0:08:53 > 0:08:57In 1968, his cousin-in-law, Lord Brabourne,
0:08:57 > 0:09:00a television producer himself, proposed a documentary which
0:09:00 > 0:09:04would show the Royal Family as it had never been seen before.
0:09:05 > 0:09:08My husband, John Brabourne,
0:09:08 > 0:09:14was certainly very enthusiastic at the idea of being able to show,
0:09:14 > 0:09:20er, the Royal Family as being natural and normal
0:09:20 > 0:09:25and doing a lot of things that everybody else in the country does
0:09:25 > 0:09:30as ordinary people, as Mr and Mrs, and not King, Queen and Prince Philip.
0:09:30 > 0:09:33- VOICE ON TV:- 'Naughty or not, they get a lot of experience...'
0:09:33 > 0:09:37Prince Philip agreed, and a film simply entitled Royal Family
0:09:37 > 0:09:41was made, broadcast on the 21st June, 1969.
0:09:44 > 0:09:46It was very much his idea.
0:09:46 > 0:09:50I think at the time he was trying to puncture the mystique
0:09:50 > 0:09:54and the subservient nonsense that surrounded the Royal Family
0:09:54 > 0:09:58and to say, "Look, we're a family, you know, with all the strengths
0:09:58 > 0:10:01"and weaknesses of a family, and we're a modern family,"
0:10:01 > 0:10:03which they were in the '60s, in that sense.
0:10:03 > 0:10:06He did have some very strange habits, your father.
0:10:06 > 0:10:10I remember, I used to come up to the lodge, I asked when I arrived
0:10:10 > 0:10:14and said, "Where's the King?" They said, "Oh, he's in the garden."
0:10:14 > 0:10:17And I went out, and there's nothing to be seen
0:10:17 > 0:10:19except for a lot of terribly rude words and language
0:10:19 > 0:10:21coming out of a rhododendron bush.
0:10:21 > 0:10:24I eventually found him there, hacking away,
0:10:24 > 0:10:28wearing a bearskin cap! Getting... LAUGHTER
0:10:29 > 0:10:32Although overall control was in the hands of the Palace,
0:10:32 > 0:10:36some insiders were said to have considerable reservations,
0:10:36 > 0:10:40as did the then-head of BBC Two, David Attenborough.
0:10:40 > 0:10:44The whole concept of royalty is a mysterious one
0:10:44 > 0:10:46and not a logical one.
0:10:46 > 0:10:51It depends on the proposition that the monarch, er,
0:10:51 > 0:10:53is different from us.
0:10:55 > 0:10:59Now, if you then say, no, no, no, they're exactly like everybody else,
0:10:59 > 0:11:01they fry sausages and they get up in the morning
0:11:01 > 0:11:04and they're occasionally bad-tempered and, you know,
0:11:04 > 0:11:08and do all the rest of the things that the rest of us do, for the moment,
0:11:08 > 0:11:11there's a frisson - everybody says, "Oooh, good Lord,
0:11:11 > 0:11:14"he's holding a frying pan, how astounding!"
0:11:16 > 0:11:18- The salad is ready.- Good.
0:11:18 > 0:11:22But, in the end, if you're not very careful, you diminish
0:11:22 > 0:11:23the stature of royalty.
0:11:23 > 0:11:28I think the fact that it probably was a division amongst
0:11:28 > 0:11:31the Royal Family as to whether it was good or bad is an indication
0:11:31 > 0:11:34of the fact that you were on a very sharp knife edge.
0:11:36 > 0:11:39This one's fine. Did you mean to do that?
0:11:39 > 0:11:42- Oh, Andrew!- Come round this side.
0:11:43 > 0:11:46Did you think it was a good idea once it had gone out?
0:11:46 > 0:11:50- Were you pleased with it?- Well, it... Yes, it went down quite well.
0:11:50 > 0:11:54I mean, I think it's achieved a sort of curious status now
0:11:54 > 0:11:56which it never had at the time.
0:11:56 > 0:11:59Well, there's a certain mythology about it, I think.
0:11:59 > 0:12:03Some people have felt that it rather opened the sort of door to the press, in terms of...
0:12:03 > 0:12:05We don't belong to a secret society!
0:12:05 > 0:12:08I mean, I don't see why people shouldn't know what's going on.
0:12:08 > 0:12:12- But presumably...- Much better that they should know than speculate.
0:12:12 > 0:12:16But presumably there also has to be a limit as well as to how intrusive...
0:12:17 > 0:12:20Well, yes, we didn't invite them into the bathroom.
0:12:20 > 0:12:22I mean...!
0:12:22 > 0:12:24People have judgment!
0:12:24 > 0:12:27Do you think it's become too intrusive now, though,
0:12:27 > 0:12:31the media interest in the... in yourself, in the Royal Family?
0:12:31 > 0:12:34It's, it's... It's natural.
0:12:34 > 0:12:35I mean...
0:12:36 > 0:12:38But, yes, I mean...
0:12:42 > 0:12:47The media is a professional intruder, I mean, it wouldn't...
0:12:47 > 0:12:51It wouldn't work if it did... That's what it's doing all the time.
0:12:51 > 0:12:54So you can't complain about it.
0:12:57 > 0:13:00Evidently, the Duke is a man who just gets on with life,
0:13:00 > 0:13:03rather than making a fuss.
0:13:03 > 0:13:08His enthusiasm for the Royal Family film was the mark of a moderniser,
0:13:08 > 0:13:11very much at odds with his public image today.
0:13:11 > 0:13:14HE SQUEALS AND SHOUTS
0:13:14 > 0:13:18Whatever effect the film may have had later in encouraging
0:13:18 > 0:13:22the public's curiosity with the Royal Family, his daring venture was
0:13:22 > 0:13:28a huge success, seen by a worldwide audience of 350 million people.
0:13:30 > 0:13:34But its cosy portrait of family life was about as far as you can get
0:13:34 > 0:13:37from the Duke's own formative years.
0:13:41 > 0:13:45Prince Philippos Schleswig Holstein Sonderburg Glucksburg
0:13:45 > 0:13:49was born on the kitchen table on the 10th June, 1921,
0:13:49 > 0:13:52on the Mediterranean island of Corfu.
0:13:53 > 0:13:55How would you describe yourself?
0:13:55 > 0:14:00Well, I'm Greek, well, I was born a Greek national.
0:14:00 > 0:14:05- But I was Danish by race.- And how do you think of yourself now?
0:14:07 > 0:14:09I don't, I'm just here!
0:14:13 > 0:14:15The Greek Royal Family were not Greek.
0:14:15 > 0:14:19They had been imported from Denmark in the 19th century,
0:14:19 > 0:14:22and their reign was a troubled one.
0:14:22 > 0:14:26In 1922, just over a year after Philip was born, his father,
0:14:26 > 0:14:30Prince Andrew, was arrested by the Greek military government.
0:14:30 > 0:14:34He was charged with treason and narrowly escaped the firing squad.
0:14:34 > 0:14:36He and his family were then exiled.
0:14:37 > 0:14:42Philip spent his childhood living in France, in England and in Germany.
0:14:45 > 0:14:47Where did you call home when you were growing up?
0:14:47 > 0:14:50Wherever I happened to be.
0:14:50 > 0:14:52I had a very extended family.
0:14:52 > 0:14:55You say I went to all these places, it was always with family.
0:14:55 > 0:14:58Did it never feel unsettling, the fact that you were moving around so much?
0:14:58 > 0:15:01Well, I just lived my life.
0:15:01 > 0:15:06I mean... I haven't been trying to psychoanalyse myself all the time.
0:15:09 > 0:15:13By the early 1930s, Philip's parents' marriage had broken down.
0:15:13 > 0:15:16His mother retreated to a sanatorium in Switzerland
0:15:16 > 0:15:20while his father moved away to a small flat in Monte Carlo.
0:15:20 > 0:15:23Philip was to have only sporadic contact with either
0:15:23 > 0:15:25for the rest of his childhood.
0:15:26 > 0:15:28And as if that was not enough,
0:15:28 > 0:15:30Philip's four sisters then all married,
0:15:30 > 0:15:34within just nine months of each other, and moved to Germany.
0:15:35 > 0:15:38Aged just ten years old, Prince Philip was separated
0:15:38 > 0:15:41from every member of his immediate family.
0:15:43 > 0:15:47What's your memory of that time? Do you...? Was that a difficult...?
0:15:47 > 0:15:49Well, I came here and I went to school here
0:15:49 > 0:15:52and my grandmother lived here so it was...
0:15:52 > 0:15:57I was in with the family, it was no great deal.
0:15:57 > 0:15:58I mean, some people might...
0:15:58 > 0:16:01Well, some people might - I'm telling you what I felt!
0:16:03 > 0:16:06I think one of the reasons that Prince Philip won't talk
0:16:06 > 0:16:08about his childhood is that he's spent a lifetime
0:16:08 > 0:16:10actually blocking it out.
0:16:10 > 0:16:13He lost literally everybody.
0:16:13 > 0:16:15He therefore became very self-reliant.
0:16:15 > 0:16:19He keeps himself to himself. He protects himself,
0:16:19 > 0:16:21and simply says, "What's there to complain about?
0:16:21 > 0:16:23"You know, these things happen."
0:16:27 > 0:16:29In 1934, Prince Philip, aged 13,
0:16:29 > 0:16:32went to Gordonstoun School in Scotland.
0:16:35 > 0:16:41The school was founded by the German-Jewish refugee Kurt Hahn.
0:16:41 > 0:16:43He was a remarkable character.
0:16:43 > 0:16:47He was vaguely eccentric, I suppose, but he was an absolute genius with people,
0:16:47 > 0:16:51and he had the extraordinary ability
0:16:51 > 0:16:56to comprehend teenagers better than they did themselves, I think.
0:16:58 > 0:17:01Hahn had progressive ideas on education,
0:17:01 > 0:17:05believing in the power of the great outdoors, in fitness,
0:17:05 > 0:17:08self-discipline, and service to the community.
0:17:08 > 0:17:14These principles were to be hugely influential on Prince Philip throughout his life.
0:17:16 > 0:17:22My old headmaster Hahn said, "My boy, I want you to run an award scheme."
0:17:22 > 0:17:26And I said, "Well, yes, sir, but... you know, I can't do it by myself."
0:17:26 > 0:17:31and I said, "If you can get a committee of the great and the good together,
0:17:31 > 0:17:34"I'll chair it, if you like." That's what happened.
0:17:38 > 0:17:42The Duke of Edinburgh's Award, or DofE, was launched in 1956,
0:17:42 > 0:17:45and based on Kurt Hahn's philosophy.
0:17:45 > 0:17:50Give young people a chance to discover their own abilities for themselves
0:17:50 > 0:17:55as an introduction to the responsibilities and interests of the grown-up world.
0:17:55 > 0:17:58And, incidentally, to make new friends and have a great deal of fun
0:17:58 > 0:18:00and satisfaction in the process.
0:18:08 > 0:18:11'Even today, he is as dedicated as ever to the DofE,
0:18:11 > 0:18:14'visiting young people all over the country.'
0:18:18 > 0:18:21- You climb this?- Yeah.
0:18:21 > 0:18:23Have you done anything else?
0:18:23 > 0:18:25I helped out at my swimming club.
0:18:25 > 0:18:27- Oh. No-one drown?- Pardon?
0:18:27 > 0:18:29- No-one's drowned? - No, no-one drowned.
0:18:29 > 0:18:31THEY LAUGH Well, good.
0:18:31 > 0:18:35'They're invited to choose things which they probably haven't done before.'
0:18:35 > 0:18:38HE LAUGHS I don't believe it.
0:18:38 > 0:18:42They set their own programme, and I think that in some way encourages them to go on with it,
0:18:42 > 0:18:45because they're challenging themselves,
0:18:45 > 0:18:47not doing it at somebody else's behest,
0:18:47 > 0:18:49and they choose the things they want to do.
0:18:49 > 0:18:53Very often they're things which they think might interest them,
0:18:53 > 0:18:55but nearly always it's a new experience.
0:18:59 > 0:19:04Three years ago, a prisoner at Reading Young Offender's Institution, Jon Watts,
0:19:04 > 0:19:06was offered the chance to change his life,
0:19:06 > 0:19:10when he was invited to take part in the DofE.
0:19:10 > 0:19:12When I was at school I'd heard about the DofE,
0:19:12 > 0:19:15but my perception was that it wasn't for people like me,
0:19:15 > 0:19:18it was for a higher class of people.
0:19:18 > 0:19:20All I knew about the Duke of Edinburgh before I was in prison
0:19:20 > 0:19:22was that he was married to the Queen
0:19:22 > 0:19:25and he was famous for saying rude things to a lot of foreign people.
0:19:29 > 0:19:33But in spite of Jon's early impression of the Duke and his award,
0:19:33 > 0:19:37he has, while in prison, completed the bronze, silver and gold awards.
0:19:39 > 0:19:43What Jon has done whilst in custody is truly remarkable.
0:19:43 > 0:19:47He is an inspiration, not just to his peers, fellow young offenders,
0:19:47 > 0:19:49but to staff.
0:19:49 > 0:19:54You know, for somebody to actually do the full set, the bronze,
0:19:54 > 0:19:58the silver and the gold whilst in custody, it hasn't been done before.
0:20:03 > 0:20:06Back in April, a few weeks before his release from prison,
0:20:06 > 0:20:09Jon received his gold award at a presentation ceremony
0:20:09 > 0:20:11at St James's Palace in London.
0:20:12 > 0:20:18While there he met the Duke, who asked him about his community service.
0:20:18 > 0:20:20What did you do for your service?
0:20:20 > 0:20:23For my service I worked alongside the Samaritans.
0:20:23 > 0:20:27- The Samaritans?- Yeah.- Oh. You didn't try committing suicide, did you?
0:20:27 > 0:20:29I didn't, no.
0:20:29 > 0:20:32'It turns out the Duke of Edinburgh is a real inspiration.
0:20:32 > 0:20:34'It's because of him that I am able to change my life.'
0:20:34 > 0:20:38People say to me that your life in prison is lost.
0:20:38 > 0:20:40However, if I can come out of prison with a DofE gold award
0:20:40 > 0:20:44I can show them that and say, "It's not lost."
0:20:44 > 0:20:46Did you all do your expedition...?
0:20:46 > 0:20:50'I think he goes on being amazed by the numbers of young people that want to do it.'
0:20:50 > 0:20:54The DofE has continued to grow, and there are young people coming in
0:20:54 > 0:20:55from all sorts of backgrounds now
0:20:55 > 0:20:58that perhaps would never have been possible when it started.
0:20:58 > 0:21:00What did you do?
0:21:00 > 0:21:02I was a mentor for young pupils in a school.
0:21:02 > 0:21:06Led them astray, did you?
0:21:06 > 0:21:07Not quite!
0:21:07 > 0:21:10Are you proud of the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme
0:21:10 > 0:21:13and the numbers that have gone through it and what it's achieved?
0:21:13 > 0:21:17I've got no reason to be proud of it. I mean, I think it's satisfying
0:21:17 > 0:21:21that we've set up a formula that works.
0:21:21 > 0:21:22Erm...
0:21:24 > 0:21:26Yes, I mean, that's it.
0:21:26 > 0:21:30Why do say there's no reason to be proud of it?
0:21:30 > 0:21:34Well, I don't run it, I mean, I don't, I don't...
0:21:34 > 0:21:38I've said it's all fairly second-hand, the whole business.
0:21:38 > 0:21:44I mean, I eventually got landed with the responsibility, or the credit for it, but, er...
0:21:44 > 0:21:46And of course it has your name.
0:21:46 > 0:21:50Well, that was strictly against my better judgment.
0:21:50 > 0:21:54I tried to avoid it, but I was eventually overridden.
0:21:54 > 0:21:57And did you all...?
0:21:57 > 0:22:00There are hundreds and hundreds of people whose lives have been turned around.
0:22:00 > 0:22:03I think that this is one of the greatest achievements
0:22:03 > 0:22:04of his life, you know,
0:22:04 > 0:22:08to set up the Duke of Edinburgh's Award scheme, because, erm...
0:22:09 > 0:22:14This sort of set a benchmark. This is a real gift to the nation.
0:22:18 > 0:22:21If the DofE is the Duke's greatest achievement,
0:22:21 > 0:22:26it was probably his time on the high seas that made him the man he is today.
0:22:28 > 0:22:33In 1939, Prince Philip arrived at Dartmouth Naval College,
0:22:33 > 0:22:35set on a career in the Royal Navy.
0:22:35 > 0:22:37We're all the sum of our past.
0:22:37 > 0:22:40I mean, Prince Philip reflects his childhood, his upbringing,
0:22:40 > 0:22:43but most of all, I think, at the heart of Prince Philip,
0:22:43 > 0:22:44is his time in the Navy.
0:22:44 > 0:22:47From the age of 18, he was a professional sailor.
0:22:50 > 0:22:54While at Dartmouth, Philip was also to meet his future wife.
0:22:56 > 0:23:00In July 1939, the King and Queen visited the college with their two daughters.
0:23:03 > 0:23:07Philip was chosen as the young princesses' escort.
0:23:08 > 0:23:11Princess Elizabeth, then only 13 years old,
0:23:11 > 0:23:15was said to taken an immediate shine to the handsome prince.
0:23:16 > 0:23:20Well, I think it was love at first sight according to her.
0:23:20 > 0:23:23And she told her father's authorised biographer
0:23:23 > 0:23:26that he was allowed to say so. So that must be so.
0:23:26 > 0:23:30Although it wasn't the first time that they'd seen each other,
0:23:30 > 0:23:34because Prince Philip used to go and stay with his aunt,
0:23:34 > 0:23:39the Duchess of Kent, and so they would be at, you know, parties.
0:23:39 > 0:23:45I think that was the first time she really thought, "Goodness,
0:23:45 > 0:23:48"I'm really mad about this man."
0:23:51 > 0:23:55Two months later came the outbreak of the Second World War,
0:23:55 > 0:23:59and soon after, Prince Philip entered active service.
0:24:00 > 0:24:03In March 1941, aboard HMS Valiant,
0:24:03 > 0:24:08he saw action off the Greek coastline in the Battle of Matapan.
0:24:10 > 0:24:14An early indication that Prince Philip had something about him
0:24:14 > 0:24:19came during the Battle of Matapan, which was a famous night action,
0:24:19 > 0:24:22during which three Italian heavy cruisers were sunk.
0:24:22 > 0:24:26And a night action with gunnery is all pretty close.
0:24:29 > 0:24:32There was some cruisers coming down on the battleship,
0:24:32 > 0:24:34there was a tremendous amount of to-ing and fro-ing
0:24:34 > 0:24:37and eventually the battle fleet, the Mediterranean fleet
0:24:37 > 0:24:41under Admiral Cunningham set off, and we managed to catch
0:24:41 > 0:24:46the three Italian cruisers coming south in the middle of the night,
0:24:46 > 0:24:50and they were quite unaware we were there,
0:24:50 > 0:24:53and the battleships opened fire and blew them out...
0:24:53 > 0:24:55Well, made an awful mess of them, that's for sure.
0:24:57 > 0:25:00He was mentioned in dispatches by the commander-in-chief.
0:25:00 > 0:25:03He would say, "Anyone would have done that, I'm sure."
0:25:03 > 0:25:08But he was the man on the day and it was a noteworthy action, and therefore was recorded.
0:25:13 > 0:25:18In 1945, with the war now over, the 24-year-old Prince Philip
0:25:18 > 0:25:23returned to Britain, every bit the dashing naval officer -
0:25:23 > 0:25:26something not lost on the young Princess Elizabeth.
0:25:30 > 0:25:35In 1946, at the wedding of the daughter of his uncle, Lord Mountbatten,
0:25:35 > 0:25:38rumours began to spread of a royal romance.
0:25:41 > 0:25:45At my wedding, the two princesses were bridesmaids,
0:25:45 > 0:25:49and there was a picture taken going into the church,
0:25:49 > 0:25:52and it was quite a cool day, and the Princess, and the others,
0:25:52 > 0:25:54all had wraps on.
0:25:54 > 0:25:56Prince Philip was one of the ushers.
0:25:56 > 0:26:02And a photograph was taken of her handing her wrap to him to take,
0:26:02 > 0:26:06which seemed a perfectly normal thing to do.
0:26:06 > 0:26:10But somehow or other, somewhere, somebody said "Ah-ha",
0:26:10 > 0:26:12you know, "What does this mean?"
0:26:15 > 0:26:17Unbeknown to most of the wedding guests,
0:26:17 > 0:26:21Philip was already privately engaged to his princess,
0:26:21 > 0:26:23with the official announcement coming in July 1947.
0:26:26 > 0:26:28In preparation for his new life,
0:26:28 > 0:26:31Philip also renounced his Greek and Danish royal titles,
0:26:31 > 0:26:37and became a British subject, adopting the surname Mountbatten.
0:26:37 > 0:26:39But to some, Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten
0:26:39 > 0:26:42remained not quite one of us.
0:26:44 > 0:26:47There was certainly a sense that he was not considered
0:26:47 > 0:26:51to be quite kosher.
0:26:51 > 0:26:54You know, he was from a sort of slightly disreputable royal wing
0:26:54 > 0:26:59from a country that had gone republican and all the rest of it,
0:26:59 > 0:27:00and a troubled family.
0:27:00 > 0:27:06He was the first person to really come in from the outside world since Prince Albert,
0:27:06 > 0:27:08so a good 100 years had passed.
0:27:11 > 0:27:16You came in as an outsider, to a certain extent. Erm...
0:27:16 > 0:27:19Well, rather less an outsider than some.
0:27:21 > 0:27:25I mean, my father was King George V's first cousin.
0:27:25 > 0:27:30I came to the Duchess of Kent's wedding here,
0:27:30 > 0:27:36I met the Queen when she was 12 or something. Erm...
0:27:36 > 0:27:39Not quite such an outsider as you might think.
0:27:41 > 0:27:43'The day of the wedding, and immense crowds.
0:27:43 > 0:27:47'Thousands had assembled overnight, others had arrived at dawn,
0:27:47 > 0:27:51'all eagerly waiting to see and to cheer the royal processions
0:27:51 > 0:27:54'on this day of their own princess's marriage.'
0:27:58 > 0:28:01On November 20th 1947 in Westminster Abbey,
0:28:01 > 0:28:04Philip Mountbatten married our future Queen.
0:28:09 > 0:28:12That morning he was given a new title by his father-in-law,
0:28:12 > 0:28:13King George VI.
0:28:13 > 0:28:16He was now His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh.
0:28:20 > 0:28:22But more importantly, perhaps,
0:28:22 > 0:28:26marriage brought Philip a sense of real family life and stability
0:28:26 > 0:28:30that had been lacking in his life since he was a ten-year-old boy.
0:28:33 > 0:28:37Marrying the Princess gave Prince Philip a centre,
0:28:37 > 0:28:41and a feeling of security,
0:28:41 > 0:28:47since he'd not had, really, much of a home in his youth and childhood.
0:28:56 > 0:28:59He was particularly happy when they were first married.
0:29:01 > 0:29:03It was a sort of real family life
0:29:03 > 0:29:08and he was always allowed to wear the trousers,
0:29:08 > 0:29:10and what he wanted went.
0:29:14 > 0:29:16One year later, Prince Philip became a father,
0:29:16 > 0:29:19with the birth of Prince Charles.
0:29:19 > 0:29:22- NEWSREEL:- 'Now the Duke of Edinburgh takes a fatherly hand,
0:29:22 > 0:29:25'his technique being no better and no worse than most fathers.
0:29:25 > 0:29:28'A slight remonstrance from Princess Elizabeth
0:29:28 > 0:29:30'but not, I think, a real protest.'
0:29:32 > 0:29:33By the standards of the time,
0:29:33 > 0:29:37Prince Philip was very much a hands-on father, hands and knees,
0:29:37 > 0:29:38playing with the children,
0:29:38 > 0:29:41but there are also first-hand accounts that I've been told
0:29:41 > 0:29:44of Prince Philip not just bathing the children,
0:29:44 > 0:29:47playing with the children, but reading to the children.
0:29:47 > 0:29:48He was a hands-on dad
0:29:48 > 0:29:51in the way that many fathers of that generation weren't.
0:29:51 > 0:29:54He was very actively involved in his children's childhood.
0:30:01 > 0:30:03But Philip was often away,
0:30:03 > 0:30:06fulfilling his duties as a serving officer.
0:30:09 > 0:30:11In 1949 he was stationed in Malta,
0:30:11 > 0:30:14where he was joined by his young wife.
0:30:19 > 0:30:23That period in Malta was probably the most special time they ever had
0:30:23 > 0:30:25because they were newly married,
0:30:25 > 0:30:27they were naval officer and wife living in Malta.
0:30:27 > 0:30:30I know people who were with them in Malta at that time.
0:30:30 > 0:30:32They appeared incredibly happy.
0:30:35 > 0:30:40That struck me as a relatively carefree time for you both, I presume to say.
0:30:40 > 0:30:42You're obsessed with carefree!
0:30:42 > 0:30:45Simply because it strikes me that your life after that...
0:30:45 > 0:30:49It was a professional life, I was a professional naval officer.
0:30:51 > 0:30:53But you weren't having to do the...
0:30:53 > 0:30:56I was having to do my duties as a professional naval officer.
0:30:56 > 0:31:00You've probably never had a profession, so you don't know what that means.
0:31:00 > 0:31:06- Well, I flatter myself, I have one now, but perhaps... - I see, right.- ..not in your view.
0:31:06 > 0:31:09All I mean is that the level of official functions, state visits,
0:31:09 > 0:31:11the kind of thing that you then took on,
0:31:11 > 0:31:14you weren't doing as much of it then, as I understand it.
0:31:14 > 0:31:15No, I wasn't before, no.
0:31:15 > 0:31:17- It was a very different life.- Yes.
0:31:17 > 0:31:19And one that you enjoyed.
0:31:19 > 0:31:23Yes, I had no grumbles.
0:31:26 > 0:31:29Despite the Duke's typical reticence,
0:31:29 > 0:31:32the Navy was undeniably important to him.
0:31:32 > 0:31:37It gave him a sense of authority and duty that has never left him.
0:31:37 > 0:31:41He rose by his own merits from a cadet to the command of a ship.
0:31:44 > 0:31:48But in 1951, George VI became seriously ill,
0:31:48 > 0:31:50diagnosed with lung cancer.
0:31:50 > 0:31:53He was only 55 years old.
0:31:55 > 0:31:57Princess Elizabeth and the Duke were now called upon
0:31:57 > 0:32:01to take over some of the King's official duties.
0:32:01 > 0:32:05The Duke's active naval career was effectively over.
0:32:08 > 0:32:15There was a huge demand for visits abroad, for all sorts of things,
0:32:15 > 0:32:21and I think there was a general understanding
0:32:21 > 0:32:24that it would be more sensible if I didn't go on with the Navy.
0:32:24 > 0:32:27Is it something you'd have liked to have continued?
0:32:27 > 0:32:28That's hypothetical.
0:32:28 > 0:32:32It is, but I'm asking the question! Would you like to have continued?
0:32:32 > 0:32:34No answer!
0:32:34 > 0:32:36You must have thought about it.
0:32:39 > 0:32:41Let me put it another way, then.
0:32:41 > 0:32:43Was it difficult to give up?
0:32:43 > 0:32:46If I thought of it at all,
0:32:46 > 0:32:49I thought I could perfectly well go on with a career.
0:32:49 > 0:32:51It didn't seem to...
0:32:51 > 0:32:55And it seemed to me it would have been of great value to the Queen,
0:32:55 > 0:32:57when she became Queen eventually,
0:32:57 > 0:32:59to have somebody who was, in a sense,
0:32:59 > 0:33:01professionally qualified in something
0:33:01 > 0:33:04and not just traipsing around.
0:33:05 > 0:33:08- NEWSREEL:- 'It is with the greatest sorrow
0:33:08 > 0:33:11'that we make the following announcement.
0:33:11 > 0:33:16'The King passed peacefully away in his sleep earlier this morning.'
0:33:16 > 0:33:20When the news came through, the Duke and the Queen were in Kenya,
0:33:20 > 0:33:22on their way to Australia for an official tour.
0:33:23 > 0:33:27According to the Duke's Private Secretary, Philip looked,
0:33:27 > 0:33:31"As if you'd dropped half the world on him."
0:33:31 > 0:33:34There was no chance now of him returning to the Navy.
0:33:38 > 0:33:41I think the death of the King was a most appalling shock, really,
0:33:41 > 0:33:47for both the Princess, who then became Queen, and for Prince Philip.
0:33:47 > 0:33:50They should have had at least another five years, really.
0:33:50 > 0:33:54And it all obviously changed overnight.
0:33:54 > 0:33:59So, I think it must have been very, very difficult for both of them.
0:34:18 > 0:34:22On 2nd June 1953, at the Queen's Coronation,
0:34:22 > 0:34:25the Duke of Edinburgh stepped forward
0:34:25 > 0:34:28and knelt in homage to his sovereign.
0:34:28 > 0:34:32He placed his hands between hers and said...
0:34:50 > 0:34:52The Queen's accession to the throne
0:34:52 > 0:34:56was a turning point in the Duke's life.
0:34:56 > 0:35:01He was no longer his wife's equal. He was now her subject.
0:35:04 > 0:35:06I think the first year for him
0:35:06 > 0:35:09after the Queen became Queen must have been difficult,
0:35:09 > 0:35:12when, at the State Opening of Parliament,
0:35:12 > 0:35:15your chair is lower than the Queen's.
0:35:15 > 0:35:18You're very much pushed into the background.
0:35:18 > 0:35:20Prime Minister, Your Majesty.
0:35:21 > 0:35:23And while the Queen has access to state papers,
0:35:23 > 0:35:26and a weekly meeting with the Prime Minister of the day,
0:35:26 > 0:35:29the Duke has no such role.
0:35:29 > 0:35:33Instead he was given non-constitutional duties,
0:35:33 > 0:35:37the job of overseeing the Royal estates and of running the family.
0:35:39 > 0:35:42Something key to remember about Prince Philip
0:35:42 > 0:35:44is that his life has been almost unique.
0:35:44 > 0:35:49Women are accustomed to their lives being defined by the man they married.
0:35:49 > 0:35:51Men of Prince Philip's generation
0:35:51 > 0:35:55are not accustomed to having their lives defined by their wives.
0:36:00 > 0:36:04Recognising the need to establish a firm position for the Duke,
0:36:04 > 0:36:07the Queen announced that the Duke was to have,
0:36:07 > 0:36:09"place, pre-eminence and precedence", next to her,
0:36:09 > 0:36:12"on all occasions and in all meetings,
0:36:12 > 0:36:16"except where otherwise provided by Act of Parliament".
0:36:16 > 0:36:18The other thing you've talked about
0:36:18 > 0:36:22is the division of labour between yourself and the Queen.
0:36:22 > 0:36:26You've said in the past you've achieved a reasonable double act.
0:36:26 > 0:36:29What did you mean by that? How does that work?
0:36:29 > 0:36:32Well, she has a constitutional role
0:36:32 > 0:36:35and has constitutional responsibilities,
0:36:35 > 0:36:37which I don't.
0:36:37 > 0:36:40Where we join up
0:36:40 > 0:36:45is when she goes on visits which are not constitutional.
0:36:45 > 0:36:48So, that works out very well.
0:36:49 > 0:36:52What was more difficult for the Duke to establish
0:36:52 > 0:36:55was what exactly was his role when he was away from the Queen.
0:36:59 > 0:37:03The problem, of course, was to recognise what the niche was,
0:37:03 > 0:37:09and to try and grow into it, and that was by trial and error.
0:37:09 > 0:37:12There was no precedent,
0:37:12 > 0:37:15but if I asked somebody, "What do you expect me to do?"
0:37:15 > 0:37:16they all looked blank.
0:37:16 > 0:37:18They had no idea. Nobody had much idea.
0:37:18 > 0:37:20So, not very helpful, then?
0:37:20 > 0:37:22Well, it wasn't they weren't helpful,
0:37:22 > 0:37:25but nobody had really thought about it.
0:37:26 > 0:37:30So, it was really, eventually, trial and error.
0:37:30 > 0:37:32And how did you go about finding that niche?
0:37:32 > 0:37:37Well, various people suggested things.
0:37:37 > 0:37:39I know that it was suggested
0:37:39 > 0:37:42that I should take on some sort of charity,
0:37:42 > 0:37:47and my uncle, Lord Mountbatten, persuaded me to...
0:37:47 > 0:37:50He followed my father-in-law
0:37:50 > 0:37:53as president of The National Playing Fields Association,
0:37:53 > 0:37:55and he suggested I should take that on
0:37:55 > 0:37:58because it would have given me
0:37:58 > 0:38:04some connection with recreational life in the country,
0:38:04 > 0:38:06and it turned out to be very valuable.
0:38:06 > 0:38:08What do you boys want?
0:38:08 > 0:38:10ALL: We want to see the boss!
0:38:10 > 0:38:12I'm afraid he's very busy.
0:38:12 > 0:38:15- It's very important. - We want to see the boss!
0:38:15 > 0:38:18- Please can we see him! - What do you want to see me about?
0:38:18 > 0:38:22- Cos we want a playing field.- Well, you've come to the right place.
0:38:29 > 0:38:33The Playing Fields Association was a huge success,
0:38:33 > 0:38:36and one of the first of over 800 different organisations
0:38:36 > 0:38:40that came knocking at the Duke's door.
0:38:41 > 0:38:45And when you talk about finding a niche, how did you set about doing that?
0:38:45 > 0:38:47Wait for invitations.
0:38:47 > 0:38:49- Is that right?- Roughly, yes.
0:38:49 > 0:38:52Because one thing after another, people started saying,
0:38:52 > 0:38:55"Will you come do this? Will you come do that?"
0:38:55 > 0:39:00And that accumulated and snowballed like you wouldn't believe it.
0:39:02 > 0:39:04Alongside the Duke of Edinburgh's Award,
0:39:04 > 0:39:08the project that has given the Duke the biggest international profile
0:39:08 > 0:39:11is the conservation of the natural world.
0:39:12 > 0:39:17His importance to conservation worldwide has been absolutely huge.
0:39:17 > 0:39:20You can go anywhere in the world
0:39:20 > 0:39:23and he will know where you have to make the connection,
0:39:23 > 0:39:26where you have to put the pressure, what you have to do.
0:39:26 > 0:39:31And he's very practical in those terms.
0:39:33 > 0:39:3950 years ago, the Duke was asked to be the first UK president of the World Wildlife Fund.
0:39:39 > 0:39:44And then 20 years later, he became the organisation's international president.
0:39:44 > 0:39:48He wasn't asked because he was the Duke of Edinburgh.
0:39:48 > 0:39:51He was asked because he was the best person in the world
0:39:51 > 0:39:53to become the president, and we were very ambitious.
0:39:53 > 0:39:57He was much more than a figurehead of WWF
0:39:57 > 0:39:59because he would look at programmes
0:39:59 > 0:40:02both for fundraising and conservation.
0:40:02 > 0:40:05He went on many tours, different parts of the world,
0:40:05 > 0:40:08to promote conservation, went into the field, met the workers there,
0:40:08 > 0:40:11met the local government officials.
0:40:11 > 0:40:13He was just amazing.
0:40:16 > 0:40:20If we've got this extraordinary diversity on this globe,
0:40:20 > 0:40:23it seems awfully silly for us to destroy it,
0:40:23 > 0:40:28because all these other creatures have an equal right to exist here.
0:40:28 > 0:40:35We have no prior rights to the Earth than anybody else.
0:40:36 > 0:40:39And if they're here, let's give them a chance to survive.
0:40:39 > 0:40:42Would you describe yourself as a green?
0:40:42 > 0:40:45- As green?- No. No.
0:40:45 > 0:40:47Why not?
0:40:49 > 0:40:52Well, because I think that there's a difference
0:40:52 > 0:40:56between being concerned for the conservation of nature
0:40:56 > 0:41:00and being a bunny hugger.
0:41:02 > 0:41:06A bunny hugger. What do you mean by that?
0:41:06 > 0:41:09Well, can't you imagine?
0:41:09 > 0:41:11- It's not a term I've heard before, I must say.- Haven't you?
0:41:11 > 0:41:17- People who simply love animals. - What, in a sentimental way?
0:41:17 > 0:41:20Yes, well, most people...
0:41:20 > 0:41:21When I was president of WWF
0:41:21 > 0:41:28I got more letters about the way animals were treated in zoos
0:41:28 > 0:41:32than about any concern for the survival of a species.
0:41:32 > 0:41:37People can't get their heads round the idea of a species surviving.
0:41:37 > 0:41:41They're more concerned about how you treat a donkey in Sicily or something.
0:41:45 > 0:41:50In 1986, the Duke combined his practical and unsentimental approach to conservation
0:41:50 > 0:41:52with a long-standing interest in religion
0:41:52 > 0:41:54and its affects on the world.
0:41:56 > 0:42:00We asked leaders of the main faiths to discuss amongst themselves
0:42:00 > 0:42:02what their attitude was
0:42:02 > 0:42:08to the natural creation, or to the natural environment, with a view to,
0:42:08 > 0:42:11if they then thought that they had any responsibility for it,
0:42:11 > 0:42:15to try and disseminate that within their communities.
0:42:17 > 0:42:20The Duke's initiative was welcomed, and in 1995,
0:42:20 > 0:42:22an organisation called ARC,
0:42:22 > 0:42:26or the Alliance of Religions and Conservation, was launched.
0:42:29 > 0:42:32Prince Philip had the vision to see this could go much bigger
0:42:32 > 0:42:35and that it could actually become one of the most powerful forces
0:42:35 > 0:42:38in the whole conservation movement.
0:42:38 > 0:42:40The fact that the major faiths
0:42:40 > 0:42:43own about 8% of the habitable surface of the planet,
0:42:43 > 0:42:47they either run or contribute to over 50% of all schools worldwide,
0:42:47 > 0:42:50and they're trusted.
0:42:50 > 0:42:53In many countries in the world, nobody trusts the government,
0:42:53 > 0:42:56nobody trusts international agencies,
0:42:56 > 0:42:59they do trust their faiths, and the religious environmental organisations
0:42:59 > 0:43:02are the fastest-growing environmental organisations in the world.
0:43:02 > 0:43:08What do you see as the biggest challenges in conservation?
0:43:08 > 0:43:11The growing human population.
0:43:11 > 0:43:13Because from where we are, there's nothing else.
0:43:15 > 0:43:18And do you have views about what should be done about that?
0:43:18 > 0:43:20Can't you guess?
0:43:20 > 0:43:23Well, it could be on a spectrum
0:43:23 > 0:43:25from mass sterilisation to...
0:43:25 > 0:43:26No, no, no!
0:43:26 > 0:43:29..to greater availability of contraception.
0:43:29 > 0:43:32I don't know what your views are as to what can be done about it.
0:43:32 > 0:43:38I think it might be described as voluntary family limitation.
0:43:38 > 0:43:44As we know, he always speaks his mind.
0:43:44 > 0:43:50Sometimes not necessarily with a high degree of tact,
0:43:50 > 0:43:52but on the other hand, I think that people
0:43:52 > 0:43:56have come to expect that of him and they really rather enjoy it.
0:43:56 > 0:43:59They think, "How nice to hear somebody actually say what they think."
0:44:00 > 0:44:04For decades, often trying to lighten the atmosphere,
0:44:04 > 0:44:07the Duke has come up with off-the-cuff remarks
0:44:07 > 0:44:11that have been lapped up by the world's press.
0:44:11 > 0:44:14Now, he's a man known for his plain speaking
0:44:14 > 0:44:15and on his trip to Australia,
0:44:15 > 0:44:18the Duke of Edinburgh hasn't disappointed.
0:44:18 > 0:44:20He caused something of a furore
0:44:20 > 0:44:22when he asked a group of Aboriginal dancers
0:44:22 > 0:44:25if they still threw their spears at each other.
0:44:25 > 0:44:28During a visit to the new Welsh Assembly in May, he met a group
0:44:28 > 0:44:31from the British Deaf Association, standing by a Caribbean band.
0:44:31 > 0:44:35"Deaf? If you're near there, no wonder you're deaf," he reportedly told them.
0:44:36 > 0:44:40Annoyingly for the Duke, his often rather light-hearted approach
0:44:40 > 0:44:44is sometimes misunderstood, with many of his comments seized upon
0:44:44 > 0:44:47by journalists waiting, notebook or camera to hand.
0:44:51 > 0:44:54Do you feel that the press has been unfair to you?
0:44:54 > 0:44:58Has given you a bit of a hard time?
0:44:59 > 0:45:00Misrepresented you?
0:45:05 > 0:45:08I suppose, yes, occasionally, but, um...
0:45:10 > 0:45:12I think the...the... It has its own agenda
0:45:12 > 0:45:15and that's it, you just have to live with it.
0:45:15 > 0:45:19But it must frustrate you. I mean, certainly, you've said before
0:45:19 > 0:45:22that there are things you might have got involved in or wanted to do
0:45:22 > 0:45:25and, you know, the press would kind of ruin it.
0:45:25 > 0:45:27Well, if you're standing on a railway line
0:45:27 > 0:45:29and an express train's coming down,
0:45:29 > 0:45:32the sensible thing is to get out of the way, isn't it?
0:45:35 > 0:45:37But that's not always been easy for the Duke.
0:45:37 > 0:45:39In 1986, on a tour of China,
0:45:39 > 0:45:43he was talking to a group of British students off the record
0:45:43 > 0:45:46and quipped that if they stayed in China much longer,
0:45:46 > 0:45:48they would come back with slitty eyes.
0:45:50 > 0:45:54This thing keeps coming up about, "Oh, yes, er, Prince Philip -
0:45:54 > 0:45:57"he says this about people having slitty eyes," or whatever it is.
0:45:57 > 0:46:00Is that fair or do you think, to some extent,
0:46:00 > 0:46:03- you're the author of your own misfortune?- Who reported it?
0:46:03 > 0:46:06- Well, it was reported in the press, but you...- By whom?
0:46:06 > 0:46:07By newspapers.
0:46:07 > 0:46:09But who?
0:46:09 > 0:46:10Well, the-the...
0:46:10 > 0:46:11The Times correspondent.
0:46:11 > 0:46:12Right.
0:46:12 > 0:46:14Called Mr Hamilton.
0:46:15 > 0:46:17But for him, it wouldn't have come out.
0:46:19 > 0:46:23I mean, there are two ways of looking at that. You could say,
0:46:23 > 0:46:27"For heaven's sake, he was making a joke, lightening the atmosphere, what's the problem?"
0:46:27 > 0:46:31Or you could say, "It was a bit un-PC, maybe he shouldn't have said that."
0:46:32 > 0:46:36It had no effect in China, if that's what you're worried about.
0:46:36 > 0:46:39I'm not worried about it at all, but I wondered what you felt about it?
0:46:39 > 0:46:40I'd forgotten about it.
0:46:43 > 0:46:46It was meant to be funny
0:46:46 > 0:46:48and in the time of when it was made,
0:46:48 > 0:46:51I'm willing to bet you they all started laughing.
0:46:51 > 0:46:53But the media picked it up,
0:46:53 > 0:46:55it was taken out of context.
0:46:55 > 0:46:59Now, you can easily say, "Well, a man of his stature
0:46:59 > 0:47:03"and his exposure to the media should be aware of the..."
0:47:03 > 0:47:06Well, so what? The fact is that he's bigger than all of those things.
0:47:12 > 0:47:14Nowhere has the press been more invasive
0:47:14 > 0:47:17than in its examination of Royal relationships.
0:47:17 > 0:47:21But throughout it all, and usually behind the scenes,
0:47:21 > 0:47:24those close to him say that the Duke has acted as patriarch,
0:47:24 > 0:47:29providing support and advice for a family sometimes under fire.
0:47:30 > 0:47:32I think what he is very good at
0:47:32 > 0:47:35is recognising the extraordinary strains
0:47:35 > 0:47:37that the Royal Family are under
0:47:37 > 0:47:39and that they put the young ones under.
0:47:39 > 0:47:43I think first and foremost, he will give a pillar to lean on
0:47:43 > 0:47:45in terms of what is right and what is appropriate
0:47:45 > 0:47:50and how to deal with some of the real strains and stresses.
0:47:50 > 0:47:55I think also, he is, in his own way, very affectionate.
0:47:55 > 0:48:00So I think that quietly, privately, he will be a tremendous support.
0:48:02 > 0:48:04And yet, there have been internal stresses.
0:48:04 > 0:48:06For years, there has been a perception
0:48:06 > 0:48:08that the Duke and his eldest son
0:48:08 > 0:48:10have not always seen eye to eye.
0:48:13 > 0:48:16I think from Prince Charles's side,
0:48:16 > 0:48:18there is a hesitation about his father.
0:48:18 > 0:48:21His father is quite a strong, authoritarian figure,
0:48:21 > 0:48:23there's no question about that.
0:48:23 > 0:48:25Erm, and I think that there have been...
0:48:25 > 0:48:29There is a real difference of personality there.
0:48:29 > 0:48:34In terms of basic affection... No, I think that's strong.
0:48:34 > 0:48:38But I think in terms of a sense of respecting each other's spaces,
0:48:38 > 0:48:41and sometimes avoiding each other's spaces,
0:48:41 > 0:48:43that's there as well.
0:48:46 > 0:48:51When it came to the Royal Family's most traumatic event in recent history,
0:48:51 > 0:48:54the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales,
0:48:54 > 0:48:58the Duke provided much needed support to his son's family.
0:49:00 > 0:49:03The plan was that Diana's boys
0:49:03 > 0:49:07would walk behind the coffin with Charles Spencer.
0:49:07 > 0:49:09There was no plan for the Duke of Edinburgh to do so.
0:49:09 > 0:49:12But Prince William wasn't sure - he was a young boy -
0:49:12 > 0:49:14that he was comfortable with doing that.
0:49:14 > 0:49:18But Prince Philip encouraged him, he said, "I think in years to come,
0:49:18 > 0:49:22"you will be pleased that you did walk behind your mother's coffin."
0:49:22 > 0:49:26And still Prince William persisted in not being sure about it
0:49:26 > 0:49:30and Prince Philip said, "Well, if I walk too, will that help?"
0:49:38 > 0:49:41There is a very touching moment, if you look at the film,
0:49:41 > 0:49:45where they go through an arch in Horse Guards Parade
0:49:45 > 0:49:47and when they, for a brief moment,
0:49:47 > 0:49:52are not fully visible to the crowd.
0:49:55 > 0:49:56And at that moment,
0:49:56 > 0:49:59Prince Philip leant forward and...
0:49:59 > 0:50:03touched the boys to reassure them, to strengthen them at that moment.
0:50:18 > 0:50:21I think you saw him at his best at that moment.
0:50:21 > 0:50:23That was him being...
0:50:23 > 0:50:25the father of the family,
0:50:25 > 0:50:27holding them and supporting them.
0:50:31 > 0:50:35Through several periods of instability in the monarchy in recent times,
0:50:35 > 0:50:37one thing has remained rock solid -
0:50:37 > 0:50:39the Duke's marriage to the Queen.
0:50:42 > 0:50:48I would never dream of commenting on anybody else's marriage!
0:50:48 > 0:50:50But I have seen them in a boat,
0:50:50 > 0:50:54I've seen them on flight decks together,
0:50:54 > 0:50:56I've seen them on those quiet moments -
0:50:56 > 0:50:58the rest periods in the middle of an engagement.
0:50:58 > 0:51:00They pull each other's leg.
0:51:00 > 0:51:02Er, they tell each other off.
0:51:02 > 0:51:05Er, you know, they just look a regular couple
0:51:05 > 0:51:07who clearly know each other terribly well.
0:51:20 > 0:51:23A few years ago, I attended the Royal Variety Performance
0:51:23 > 0:51:27with the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh and, during the interval,
0:51:27 > 0:51:32we went into one of the reception areas where the Queen, being the Queen, was the centre of attention.
0:51:32 > 0:51:34And when the Queen is the centre of attention,
0:51:34 > 0:51:37Prince Philip keeps out of the way, he ensures people can see the Queen.
0:51:37 > 0:51:41I stood with Prince Philip at the edge of this room, he had a glass in his hand,
0:51:41 > 0:51:45and the Queen was there, surrounded by a whole crowd of show-business personalities.
0:51:45 > 0:51:49And I noticed across the crowded room that she looked up and caught his eye
0:51:49 > 0:51:54and as he caught her eye, he simply raised his glass to her.
0:51:54 > 0:52:00And I thought, "Yeah. Something's being going on here for 60 years that we probably can't get at."
0:52:01 > 0:52:04Seems all right.
0:52:07 > 0:52:11- It's all right, isn't it?- Yes.
0:52:13 > 0:52:16When you were thinking about your role,
0:52:16 > 0:52:20- you saw your first duty, first and foremost, to support the Queen?- Yes.
0:52:20 > 0:52:22- That's the right way to describe it?- Yes.
0:52:22 > 0:52:24And what does that involve?
0:52:26 > 0:52:29Helping her! I mean, er, supporting her,
0:52:29 > 0:52:33doing anything that, er, is valuable to her.
0:52:37 > 0:52:39In 1997, the Queen herself
0:52:39 > 0:52:43acknowledged the support the Duke had provided over their lifetime.
0:52:45 > 0:52:50All too often, I fear Prince Philip has had to listen to me speaking.
0:52:50 > 0:52:53Frequently, we have discussed my intended speech beforehand
0:52:53 > 0:52:55and as you will imagine,
0:52:55 > 0:52:58his views have been expressed in a forthright manner.
0:53:00 > 0:53:04He is someone who doesn't take easily to compliments,
0:53:04 > 0:53:08but he has quite simply been my strength and stay all these years.
0:53:15 > 0:53:17Together, the Queen and the Duke
0:53:17 > 0:53:20have undertaken many thousands of engagements
0:53:20 > 0:53:23within the United Kingdom and overseas.
0:53:23 > 0:53:29So far, they've completed over 300 visits to every corner of the globe.
0:53:32 > 0:53:36But there is a sense that, at the age of 90,
0:53:36 > 0:53:39he might like to relinquish some of his official duties.
0:53:41 > 0:53:45I reckon I've done my bit. I want to enjoy myself a bit now...
0:53:45 > 0:53:50um, with less responsibility,
0:53:50 > 0:53:52less frantic rushing about,
0:53:52 > 0:53:56less preparation, less trying to think of something to say.
0:53:58 > 0:54:03On top of that...memory's going, I can't remember names and things.
0:54:03 > 0:54:05Yes, I'm just sort of winding down.
0:54:05 > 0:54:07- Are you?- Yes.
0:54:07 > 0:54:10Taking on less...less duties, that kind of thing?
0:54:10 > 0:54:13I'm not taking on less, I'm getting rid of things.
0:54:17 > 0:54:20Quite, er, consciously, quite deliberately,
0:54:20 > 0:54:25he is getting rid of a lot of his patronages, he is giving up
0:54:25 > 0:54:27the Chancellorship of Cambridge
0:54:27 > 0:54:28and of Edinburgh,
0:54:28 > 0:54:31two major universities,
0:54:31 > 0:54:33and of a number of other charities
0:54:33 > 0:54:36that have taken up quite a lot of his time.
0:54:37 > 0:54:41A recognition that, quite frankly, the time's come.
0:54:41 > 0:54:44And it's being done in an ordered fashion
0:54:44 > 0:54:49so that succession can be properly thought through
0:54:49 > 0:54:51and his departure can be properly managed.
0:54:55 > 0:55:00And yet in 2011, the Duke shows little sign that he is letting up.
0:55:01 > 0:55:05In the spring, the Duke was at Westminster Abbey,
0:55:05 > 0:55:07reading the lesson at the Maundy service.
0:55:07 > 0:55:10"Then the righteous will reply,'
0:55:10 > 0:55:13"Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and fed you?
0:55:13 > 0:55:15"Or thirsty and gave you drink?
0:55:15 > 0:55:17"A stranger and took you home?
0:55:17 > 0:55:19"Or naked and clothed you?
0:55:19 > 0:55:24"When did we see you ill or in prison and came to visit you?
0:55:24 > 0:55:28"And the King will answer, 'I tell you this.
0:55:28 > 0:55:32"'Anything you did for one of my brothers here, however humble,
0:55:32 > 0:55:34"'you did for me.'"
0:55:43 > 0:55:46A week later, he was celebrating his grandson's wedding.
0:55:57 > 0:56:01Then came the historic visit to Ireland with the Queen.
0:56:07 > 0:56:10Straight after, the Queen and the Duke
0:56:10 > 0:56:14welcomed President Obama and his wife to Buckingham Palace.
0:56:16 > 0:56:19He keeps on saying he's trying to slow down and take on less,
0:56:19 > 0:56:23but I-I haven't...I haven't seen much evidence of that,
0:56:23 > 0:56:25he seems to fill the...fill the, um,
0:56:25 > 0:56:28the gaps with lots of other things, which is fantastic.
0:56:28 > 0:56:30And the fact that he's still got that fascination
0:56:30 > 0:56:32and interest and energy is superb.
0:56:36 > 0:56:38I followed your schedule a little bit
0:56:38 > 0:56:42and it strikes me you do an awful lot, but that's...
0:56:42 > 0:56:44Well, you should have been around a few years ago.
0:56:44 > 0:56:47But I don't think... you don't really want
0:56:47 > 0:56:51nonagenarians as the heads of, er, organisations, you know,
0:56:51 > 0:56:54which are trying to do something useful.
0:56:56 > 0:57:00There is an ageism in this country, everywhere, and quite rightly too,
0:57:00 > 0:57:04because I think you go downhill physically, mentally and everything.
0:57:04 > 0:57:07But I don't think any of the charities that I have spoken to
0:57:07 > 0:57:11that have your involvement would ever describe you as past your sell-by date.
0:57:11 > 0:57:15No, but it's better to get out before you reach the sell-by date.
0:57:19 > 0:57:22After months of trying to work out who the Duke actually is
0:57:22 > 0:57:26and then interviewing him - not an entirely easy ride, may I say -
0:57:26 > 0:57:31I can understand why people see him in turns as reactionary, modern,
0:57:31 > 0:57:33charming, bad-tempered,
0:57:33 > 0:57:35thoughtful, funny
0:57:35 > 0:57:38and more than a little impatient.
0:57:40 > 0:57:44But he is not a man who is going to dwell on these apparent contradictions.
0:57:47 > 0:57:50It seems to me, from an early age,
0:57:50 > 0:57:53the Duke learnt the vital skill of self-reliance
0:57:53 > 0:57:56and the ability to get on with the job in hand.
0:57:56 > 0:57:58Asking him to talk about himself
0:57:58 > 0:58:00is like a red rag to a bull.
0:58:00 > 0:58:04He represents a generation, almost gone now,
0:58:04 > 0:58:07which doesn't moan about what might have been,
0:58:07 > 0:58:10but concentrates on what can be done now.
0:58:10 > 0:58:13And despite all he has achieved,
0:58:13 > 0:58:16he is, I think, genuinely bewildered by all the interest in him.
0:58:16 > 0:58:19"I'm 90," he says, "so what?"
0:58:44 > 0:58:47Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:47 > 0:58:50E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk