A LONG-TIME pal of Prince Philip’s has revealed the one thing the Queen did that annoyed the Duke.
Gyles Brandreth, who has penned a new book on Philip’s life, gave an insight into the royal couple’s 73-year marriage.
Read our Royal Family live blog for the latest updates
And while the pair were very happy in their lives together, the Queen had one habit that deeply irritated the Duke, he said.
Mr Brandreth, who appeared on ITV’s Lorraine this morning, said the monarch’s frequent phone calls were the biggest cause of the Duke’s domestic ire.
He told Lorraine it was the “only time he ever complained about the Queen”.
“He knew his whole life was about supporting the Queen and he never put foot wrong,” the author said.
“He always turned up, right day, right uniform, on time, one step behind.
“But he did find – he did say to me – ‘Oh god, she’s never off the phone, never off the phone. Who is she talking to?'”
Lorraine joked: “She’s got queening to do – she’s being the Queen.”
Mr Brandreth said: “I think she was probably on the phone in the evening.
“She telephones her racing manager to talk about the horses, and in the afternoon she takes her dogs for a walk.”
And he said “heartbreaking” photos of the Queen sitting alone in St George’s Chapel on the day of her husband’s funeral were “unbearably sad”.
“The Queen is driven by duty and sustained by faith and so she would have wanted to obey rules strictly because she leads from the front,” he said.
“Her faith is absolutely important to her. Although she was alone at the end of that pew, it’s her own chapel that she knows so well, and she really does believe.”
He said the Queen would always turn to the church during “trials and tribulations”.
“It’s where she would have wanted to be,” he said.
“She wasn’t alone. She had her faith, she had God there and she had her husband there.”
Her Majesty referred to Prince Philip as “my strength and stay all these years” in a speech she made celebrating their golden wedding anniversary in 1997.
PHILIP SAID QUEEN WAS ‘NEVER OFF THE PHONE’
And she shared the moving tribute again after his death.
During the toast 24 years ago, Her Majesty said: “He has, quite simply, been my strength and stay all these years, and I, and his whole family, and this and many other countries, owe him a debt greater than he would ever claim, or we shall ever know.”
Philip was the Queen’s support in public at the most significant national moments – and over the years, he carried out 22,219 solo engagements, and many thousands more at the monarch’s side.
But he was also the person who knew her best.
A private secretary once said: “Prince Philip is the only man in the world who treats the Queen simply as another human being.
“He’s the only man who can.”
He and Elizabeth wed in 1947 at Westminster Abbey – and theirs was an enduring marriage based on love.
Over the years, there have been countless photos taken showing the couple laughing together, even during the most formal of occasions.
And – defying his tough public image – his nicknames for her included ‘Lilibet’, ‘Darling’ and ‘Sausage’.
