His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom (his full title is 136 words long) is the oldest-ever male member of the British Royal Family, as well as by far the longest-serving and oldest spouse of a reigning British monarch. After 66 years of marriage to the Queen (who calls him her ‘constant strength and guide’), he is so revered around the world that one community in the South Seas worships him as a god. Although his direct, no-nonsense approach to life has put many noses out of joint and frequently made headlines, his witticisms and occasional gaffes have helped to endear him to the British people almost as much as the Queen. Learn all about the public and private Prince Philip in this fascinating book

Many books have been written about the life of Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, yet there always seem to be corners of his long life that have remained unexplored. In this long look back into his early years, Constantinos Lagos and John Carr uncover hitherto unknown aspects of Philip's life as a Greek prince and his gradual transformation from a mere appendage of the troubled Greek royal family to an enduring pillar of the British monarchy. For the first time, Lagos and Carr delve into neglected Greek archives for a fascinating picture of Philip's early Greek life and the constant insecurity that dogged his steps as his father Prince Andrew of Greece and mother Princess Alice struggled to order their own lives in the maelstrom of unstable and often violent Greek politics in a Europe sliding towards world war. The Greek royal family, in which Philip has his roots, is dealt with at length, to bring out the particular family history and circumstances that played no small part in shaping his personality. Anyone curious about how Prince Philip actually grew up will find in this book a wealth of eye-opening, often startling details that will add more brush strokes to the portrait of the often-elusive but real Prince Philip.

For more than 70 years, Prince Philip has been the Queen's constant companion and support, but his vital role in the monarchy has too often gone largely unnoticed. Now, in Ingrid Seward's superb new biography of the Duke of Edinburgh, we get the chance to read the full story of his remarkable life and achievements. Born into the Greek and Danish royal families in 1921, a descendant of Queen Victoria, Prince Philip's aristocratic credentials were second to none. But, only 18 months after his birth, the family had to be rescued by a British warship from the island of Corfu after his father was exiled. His nomadic childhood was spent in Germany, Paris and eventually England where he was sent to boarding school. At the age of 18, while studying at Dartmouth Naval College, he was asked to look after the King's two daughters, 13-year-old Elizabeth and her sister Margaret, during a royal visit. It was their first proper meeting and, only eight years later, their marriage in 1947 brought new light to the country after the perils of the war. But, within a few years, their lives were transformed when in 1952 she became Queen Elizabeth II, and he had to give up his naval career and learn a new role as consort, deferring in public to the monarch and even having to give up his surname. In Ingrid Seward's brilliant new biography, we see how such a man of action coped with having to spend the next seventy years of his life walking two steps behind his wife. His reaction was to create a role for himself, modernising the monarchy, campaigning to protect the environment, supporting the sciences and engineering, and inspiring the young through the Duke of Edinburgh Awards. But, above all, he proved himself to be the Queen's most valuable and loyal companion throughout her long reign. The TV series The Crown has helped bring Prince Philip to the centre of attention, but this superb biography not only examines the major influences on his life but is packed with revealing behind-the-scenes details and great insight. This first major biography of Prince Philip for almost 30 years shines new light on his complex character and extraordinary career.

For decades Prince Philip shared the Queen's burden of office without upstaging her, always privately providing reassurance and advice but never overstepping the boundaries of his supporting role. It was an unforgiving position - a challenge for anyone - but one that he met head on. He remained the Queen's adviser and closest confidant and was known as such the world over. That said, he was wise enough to recognise his limitations and the constraints of his role. He always seemed to instinctively know when it was time to step back and let his wife take the lead. His job was, after all, to allow her star to shine. Robert Jobson's magnificent biography of the Duke of Edinburgh tells the full story of his remarkable life and achievements, and how, after his marriage in 1947 to Princess Elizabeth, this dedicated military man spent so much of his life dutifully supporting his wife. Though he created a role for himself as a determined moderniser and environmental campaigner, and through the Duke of Edinburgh Awards, encouraged young people to reach their potential, it was perhaps his greatest achievement to have been a loyal husband and companion, and a loving father and grandfather.

____________________________________________________________________________________ THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP 10 BESTSELLER 'It is a beautifully written book about a unique and extraordinary man who was the longest-serving consort to the longest reigning monarch in British history. I have read many other books about Philip but this is the best.' - DAILY EXPRESS 'Gloriously witty and incisive' - DAILY MAIL 'It's bloody brilliant, totally inspiring ... it's a joy to read a book that comes from a perspective of fondness. There are whole pages I want to read to the kids and stick to the fridge.' - KIRSTIE ALLSOPP, THE TIMES 'As a sparkling celebration of Prince Philip, the book will be hard to beat' - THE TELEGRAPH 'Brandreth explores a temperament on the brink of anger and agitation with immense tact, even affection.' - THE SPECTATOR 'This affectionate biography of Prince Philip is stuffed with entertaining anecdotes ... so readable and refreshing even after the millions of words that have been written about Prince Philip in the past couple of weeks.' - THE TIMES 'Brilliant... there is so much in this book you won't find anywhere else.' - LORRAINE 'A stately, respectful and joyful tribute. It is an extraordinary story, told with unique insight and authority by an author who knew him for more than 40 years.' - EDINBURGH EVENING NEWS 'A warm, affectionate portrait of the much-missed Duke ... a rich source of insights and anecdotes.' - SAGA MAGAZINE ______________________________________________________________________________________ This is the story of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh - the longest-serving consort to the longest-reigning sovereign in British history. It is an extraordinary story, told with unique insight and authority by an author who knew the prince for more than forty years. Philip - elusive, complex, controversial, challenging, often humorous, sometimes irascible - is the man Elizabeth II once described as her 'constant strength and guide'. Who was he? What was he really like? What is the truth about those 'gaffes' and the rumours of affairs? This is the final portrait of an unexpected and often much-misunderstood figure. It is also the portrait of a remarkable marriage that endured for more than seventy years. Philip and Elizabeth were both royal by birth, both great-great-grandchildren of Queen Victoria, but, in temperament and upbringing, they were two very different people. The Queen's childhood was loving and secure, the Duke's was turbulent; his grandfather assassinated, his father arrested, his family exiled, his parents separated when he was only ten. Elizabeth and Philip met as cousins in the 1930s. They married in 1947, aged twenty-one and twenty-six. Philip: The Final Portrait tells the story of two contrasting lives, assesses the Duke of Edinburgh's character and achievement, and explores the nature of his relationships with his wife, his children and their families - and with the press and public and those at court who were suspicious of him in the early days. This is a powerful, revealing and, ultimately, moving account of a long life and a remarkable royal partnership.

The Sunday Times bestseller A Radio 4 Book of the Week, June 2021 ‘Highly readable ... deserves to take its place among the first rank of modern royal biographies’ Daily Mail ‘The narrative is as suspenseful as any thriller. Truly, an excellent read’ Lynn Barber, Sunday Times