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By Root 1353 0

there was a dynasty to be saved. Not even the British monarchy could survive indefinitely in the thin air of unaccountable privilege. So she announced through her Prime Minister that she would start paying taxes. She also agreed to open Buckingham Palace to the public for two months a year. She said she would charge $12 admission to help finance restoration of Windsor Castle. And she would also help restore the castle with profits from the Palace gift shop, where tourists could purchase commemorative cup-and-saucer sets ($36) and crown-shaped chocolates ($6). Over the objections of her husband, she agreed to give up the royal yacht, Britannia, in 1997. That was when it was scheduled to be decommissioned to spare the taxpayer the expense of an overhaul.* Also, to the dismay of her relatives, she removed most of them from the public payroll and reimbursed the government for everyone but herself, her mother, and her husband. This gesture returned approximately $14 million to the taxpayers. But she kept herself on the Civil List for $11,850,000 a year, her mother for $972,000 a year, and her husband for $547,000 a year.

Perhaps to underscore his worth, Philip had agreed in 1993 to be profiled by journalist Fiammetta Rocco in the Independent on Sunday. His office had provided her with the phone numbers of fifty people to call. Her most interesting interview proved to be with the Duke himself. “I arrived at the Palace on the day of the Queen’s annus horribilis speech,” recalled the writer, who had to submit her questions in advance. “He had barred all personal questions about his family—his parents, his wife, his children. He only wanted to discuss issues, but not all issues. I couldn’t ask about ordination of women in the church, but he would talk endlessly about the World Wildlife Fund.”

During the interview, the reporter strayed slightly from the script. She mused that Philip seemed to be a man surrounded by many myths. He brightened slightly, so she proceeded.

“One myth is that you have had many mistresses.”

He looked exasperated. “Have you ever stopped to think that for the last forty years, I have never moved anywhere without a policeman accompanying me? So how the hell could I get away with anything like that?” He stared straight ahead and waited for the next question. That subject was closed.

His response amused the former head of the Royal Protection Service, who chuckled when he read it. “The truth is our function is to protect the person, not his morals…. If he’s inside a woman’s flat, we stand outside. We don’t care what he’s doing inside as long as he emerges unharmed… so he can get away with whatever he wants…. We’re not there to protect him as the Queen’s husband, but to guard him as the Duke of Edinburgh… there’s a considerable difference….”

The British historian and writer Richard Hough, who spent time with Philip in the 1970s researching a book and traveling with him on the Britannia, acknowledged the other women in his life. “There were two secretaries on board ship, both very pretty,” he recalled. “And I know that he keeps a mistress… somewhere in Notting Hill. But he was very discreet.” Years before, Philip had underscored the importance of discretion when he was asked the secret of a successful marriage. “A home of one’s own,” he said, “and common sense.”

The reporter did not push the point with Philip. “A second myth,” she said, “is that Prince Andrew is not really your son. That he is the son of Lord Porchester [the Queen’s racing manager].”

Philip did not flinch. Knowing that any reaction would be front-page news, he said nothing. He sat as impassive as stone. “Like a child with porridge in his mouth,” the reporter later told a colleague. She had addressed the issue of his son’s paternity because it had been raised weeks before by Nigel Dempster in The New York Times Magazine: “Get hold of a picture of Prince Andrew and then one of Lord Porchester at the same age,” Dempster was quoted telling the writer Christopher Hitchens. “You’ll see that Prince Philip could never have been Andy’s father.”