The royals - Kitty Kelley [103]
Despite Philip’s attractiveness to women, he was also appreciated by men, especially in his younger days. “I think he far prefers the company of men,” said a man who knew him in the navy. “There was the all-male Thursday Club before and after his marriage. The four-month cruise with his male equerry in 1956….” Another man, an internationally acclaimed writer and self-described homosexual, smiled mischievously when Philip’s name was mentioned. The writer told another writer over drinks in the Oak Room Bar of the Plaza Hotel in New York City in 1994 that he remembered Philip well. “Ah, yes,” he said wickedly, “I knew Philip when he was the girl.”
With Merle Oberon, Philip appeared more beguiled by opulence than romance. Impressed by her extravagance, he enjoyed being cosseted in superlative comfort. She provided cashmere blankets, silk sheets, and a French chef who served superb cuisine with vintage wines. Although Philip was married to the world’s richest woman, and accustomed to the highest level of royal service, he did not live sumptuously. His wife was frugal and accustomed to scratchy tweeds and sensible shoes. Her palaces were cold and drafty and required electric space heaters in every corner. Merle Oberon’s estates had heated marble floors, heated towel racks, and gold-leafed beds swagged with silk tassels. Her house parties were rich, relaxed, and sunny, with sweet bougainvillea breezes.
Lord Mountbatten, who adored glamorous movie stars like Merle Oberon, had introduced his nephew to the legendary beauty when they’d visited Mexico fifteen years earlier. “I was on that trip,” recalled John Barratt, who was Mountbatten’s private secretary, “and I never saw anything to suggest an affair between the Duke of Edinburgh and Merle Oberon. Her husband was there, and he was our host.”
The editor and writer Michael Korda disagrees. “Oh, c’mon,” he said. “Everyone knows Philip had an affair with Merle. My uncle [film director Alexander Korda] was married to her from 1939 to 1945…. No, I wasn’t around then, and no, I never saw them together, but that’s what I’ve always been told. Besides, if they didn’t have an affair, they should have!”
Jody Jacobs, formerly a reporter for Women’s Wear Daily and society editor of the Los Angeles Times, attended one of Merle Oberon’s dinner parties in honor of Prince Philip. “It was during the [1968] Summer Olympics in Mexico City, and Merle, who was a stickler for royal protocol, insisted that everyone arrive before the Duke of Edinburgh and that the women wear long dresses. She invited Princess Lalla Nezha of Morocco and jet-setters like Cristina Ford, who was married to Henry Ford at the time, although he was not with her that evening; one or two Hollywood stars; and a few Mexican socialites whom Merle considered rich or aristocratic enough to be included. After dinner, when most of the other guests had left, I was part of a little group standing with the Prince near some French doors leading to the terrace and pool. There were two other women, including Cristina Ford, who was tan and tawny. This was the same Cristina Ford whose mad dancing at a White House dinner for Princess Margaret had made international news: Cristina, who was doing the twist, twisted herself right out of her white strapless gown. The top of her dress literally fell down. Now she was flirting madly with Prince Philip. They had danced a few times that evening. Suddenly she looked up at him and said, ‘Why don’t we go to the pool and go swimming? We (meaning the women) could leave our bras and little panties on.’
“Prince Philip blanched. ‘Uh, uh,’ he said. ‘I think it’s