The royals - Kitty Kelley [34]
Mindful of the animosity toward his own German roots, Mountbatten worried about Philip’s guttural surname—Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glucksburg—and his ties to his sisters and their German husbands, who supported Hitler’s Third Reich. Philip was especially close to his brother-in-law, Berthold, the Margrave of Baden. Mountbatten also fretted about Prince Philip of Hesse, for whom Philip had been named. That German relation was Hitler’s personal messenger and functioned so effectively for the Führer that he was awarded an honorary generalship in the Storm Troopers. Until his death in 1943, another of Philip’s uncles—Prince Christopher of Hesse—was the head of the secret phone-tapping service in Göring’s research office; this unit eventually became the Gestapo, the Nazi’s secret state police.
Mountbatten was determined to put as much distance as possible between Philip and his German roots. The wily uncle knew how crucial it was for his nephew to be accepted by the British establishment, so he wrote to the British Commissioner of Oaths, saying that Philip had lived most of his life in England and joined the Royal Navy before the war with the intention of making it his life’s career. “He has been brought up as an Englishman who rides well, shoots well, and plays all games such as football with more than usual ability,” wrote Mountbatten.
He then wrote to Philip, saying that he was proceeding “full steam ahead” on the naturalization process so that Philip would be “totally acceptable” to pursue his romance with Princess Elizabeth. Philip pleaded with his uncle to slow down.
“Please, I beg of you,” he wrote, “not too much advice in an affair of the heart or I shall be forced to do the wooing by proxy.”
Philip knew how upset the King and Queen were about the article that had appeared in The New York Times entitled “Marriage à la Mode” and asserting that the most likely candidate for the hand of Princess Elizabeth was Prince Philip of Greece. The story had been officially denied by the Palace. But factory workers in England, depressed by six years of war, were starved for romance. When their future Queen made her first public appearance after the unconditional surrender of Germany in 1945, the crowds startled her with their boisterous shouts: “Where’s Philip?” “How’s Philip?” “Are you going to marry Philip?”
“It was horrible,” she later told her sister.
“Poor Lilibet,” said Margaret. “Nothing of your own. Not even your love affair.”
FIVE
By 1945 the House of Windsor had been remodeled. The Windsors had repainted their dark German foundation with bright British colors and fashioned the exterior with an attractive new facade. The false front concealed the family flaws and allowed the renovated German house to look decidedly English—so English that by the end of World War II, the dynasty designed by dodgery was never more popular. Having removed itself from politics and no longer in danger of being damaged by factional disputes, the institution stood as a model of respectability. The monarchy, personified by the royal family, symbolized duty, decorum, and decency.
After the Allies crushed Nazi Germany, Britons discarded their courageous wartime leader Prime Minister Churchill, but they embraced their shy little monarch. On the day Germany surrendered, crowds surrounded Buckingham Palace, cheering and shouting for their beloved King and Queen. The royal family, which embodied Britain’s sense of high moral purpose, had become the center of life in the United Kingdom. As the royal couple stepped out onto the balcony to wave, a voice in the throng shouted: “Thank God for a good King!” Deeply moved, George VI stepped forward and stammered: “Th-th-thank God for a g-g-good people!”
With the war finally over, the King wanted to make up for lost time with his family, especially with his elder daughter. He planned picnics at